ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College baseball team made its Freeman Field debut on Tuesday afternoon and continued to roll with an 13-7 triumph over Hamilton College. The Bombers collected 14 combined hits in what was the first meeting between the two teams since 1998. IC moved to 15-5 with the win, while Hamilton falls to .500 with a 9-9 overall record.
 
Grad student Buzz Shirley has gotten off to a blistering start to his 2022 campaign, as the slugger went 3-for-4 at the dish with a solo homerun and four RBI.
 
Buoyed by a big three-run home run in the second, sophomore left fielder Louis Fabbo went 2-for-3. Freshman Connor Pedersen also helped fuel Ithaca's offense, going 4-for-5 with a double, three runs scored, and a stolen base.
 
Junior Garrett Bell took the mound as the starting pitcher for IC and recorded his fourth win of the season. The Lansing, N.Y. native tossed 7.0 innings pitched and surrendered just three runs off of four hits, to go along with eight strikeouts in the outing.
 
Freshman Riley Brawdy helped the Bombers get off to a quick start in the second inning by launching a deep shot to the warning track and sending Pedersen home from third for an RBI double.
 
Two batters later, Fabbo stepped up to the plate and roped a huge three-run jack over the left field fence to stake IC to a 4-0 lead. Moments later, Shirley made it back-to-back by belting a solo home run into right field to stretch the advantage to 5-0 early on.
 
Following the Bombers' magical second inning, the Continentals finally cracked the scoreboard in the fourth with a Brady Slinger RBI double. The next run was a bit controversial as designated hitter Jackson Sattinger lifted a shot down the left field line that looked to be a foul ball yet was ruled a single. That sent home Slinger and cut the deficit to 5-2.
 
Ithaca continued to keep the runs churning in the home half of the inning behind a Shirley sac-fly that scored Brawdy from third base to make it 6-2.
 
Ahead 7-3 in the bottom of the seventh frame, the Bombers got back to their hot-hitting ways as Colin Shashaty drove in two more runs with an RBI double. One batter later, Shirley sent a shot right between the Hamilton second baseman's legs for an RBI single that sent home two more to push the lead to 11-3.
 
The IC offense added even more damage in the home half of the eighth, as sophomore Ethan Rothstein remained dangerous at the plate and rocketed a two-run RBI double to make it 13-3.
 
Hamilton threatened in the ninth by driving home four runs, but reliever Matt Chase stepped in to retire the side and conclude the ball game.
 
Ithaca College returns to the diamond this weekend as the squad lines up for a three-game series against Bard College beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch for Game 1 is slated to take place at 1 p.m.