ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College baseball team will officially begin its 2022 season on Friday morning against New Paltz in Virginia Beach, Va. Ithaca heads down to Virginia Wesleyan University for a three-game road trip to get the campaign underway.
This season will mark the first full season (38 games scheduled) in which head coach
David Valesente and his staff will have with the program. In 2020, COVID-19 cut the season to just seven games, and last spring, IC managed to put together 29 contests as the Bombers finished 16-12-1 and reached the Liberty League Tournament in IC's first season of competition as the newest member of the league.
Ithaca heads into this season with a solid core of returners, mixed with a talented group of freshmen and transfer student-athletes.
Leading the way will be
Buzz Shirley, who is coming off a season in which he .389 with 23 RBI and 24 runs scored, to go along with 10 doubles and three homeruns. Shirley also went 3-1 on the mound with a 4.99 ERA in 39.2 innings pitched with 46 strikeouts.
Louis Fabbo is back after a stellar rookie season that ended with a .353 average. Fabbo led the Bombers with 42 hits and ranked second with 31 RBI and 27 runs scores. In 29 games, he recorded at least one hit in 25 contests.
Gil Merod and
Mike Nauta are also back for the Bombers after posting plus-.300 averages last spring. Merod started 21 games behind the plate and batted .333, while Nauta finished the season at .319 with 23 runs scored and was perfect in nine stolen base attempts.
Colin Shashaty came on late for IC last spring and found his way into the starting lineup. Shashaty wound up hitting .341 in 41 at bats with eight stolen bases.
Ethan Rothstein,
Matt Fabian,
Jason Sarubbi,
Ben Landis and
Ethan McDonough are all returning and will look to make an impact in the field and at the plate.
The pitching staff returns a plethora of talent and depth this season. Along with Shirley,
Kyle Lambert will look to be IC's top starter after a junior season which capped off with a 5-1 record, 3.54 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 48.1 innings of work.
Matt Chase made six starts a season ago and fanned 23 batters in 21 innings.
Out of the bullpen, IC can turn to
Garrett Bell (32.2 IP, 28 K, 3.58 ERA, 13 appearances and two saves),
Nate Scott (3.63 ERA, 10 appearances, 22.1 IP, 21 K),
Tyler Edelman (four appearances and a 2.25 ERA) and
Brett Budzak (five appearances).
Sean Kelly and
Bo Nicholson will also see time for the Bombers.
The Bombers also welcome 13 newcomers to the squad this season –
Connor Pedersen,
Dan Kellachan,
Collin Feeney,
Riley Brawdy,
Erislandy Rives,
Zane Grimes,
Nicholas Cutaia,
Ethan Buckley,
Colin Leyner,
Ryan Laubscher,
David Cifonelli,
Griffin Ruffner and
Liam Bohrer.
Carter Kowalczyk and
Timmy MacDonald return to the roster after a season off.
While in Virginia, the Bombers will play two games against New Paltz and the third against Virginia Wesleyan. The following weekend, IC heads to Long Island to take on Old Westbury in a doubleheader on March 5 and returns to Upstate New York for a mid-week matchup at No. 2 Cortland on March 8.
From there, IC hits the road for its Spring Break trip to Florida for seven games from March 13-19. The Bombers will play North Park, Dickinson, Franklin and Marshall, Wisconsin La Crosse, Springfield, No. 29 Wheaton (Mass.) and Stevenson.
The Bombers continue on the road after Florida with a trip to No. 26 Scranton on March 23 and their Liberty League opener at Skidmore on March 26-27 for a three-game set.
IC will finally grace Freeman Field on March 30 against Elmira and then travel to the North Country to take on St. Lawrence for a three-game matchup.
From April 5-13, the Bombers are home for one against Hamilton, three games against Bard and another showdown with Cortland.
The next two weekends, IC will play Liberty League home-and-home series with RIT on April 15-16 and No. 37 Rochester on April 23-24. Mixed between those games in non-conference game against Utica on the 19th.
IC will then host No. 27 Oswego on the 27th against and close out the month with a home doubleheader against Clarkson the 30th.
As May rolls around, the Bombers wrap up their series with Clarkson and then head to Alfred State for the regular season finale on May 3.
The Liberty League Tournament is scheduled to be played on May 7-8 and then May 12-14.
All home Ithaca games will be webcast on YouTube and have live stats available. Links to view both are available on the baseball schedule.
