AMBLER, Pa. – In a matchup for nationally ranked teams at Skip Wilson Field, No. 19 Ithaca College and No. 15 Arcadia University split a non-conference doubleheader on Sunday. The Bombers prevailed in the opener, 10-8 in 11 innings, while Arcadia took the nightcap, 16-9. IC is now 2-1 on the season.
GAME ONE – Ithaca 10, Arcadia 8 (11 innings)
Ithaca fell behind, 3-0, after two innings of play but pulled to within a 4-3 difference by the fifth inning. The Bombers scored once in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
Garrett Callaghan drove home the first run on a groundout in the third as
Ethan Rothstein raced home and then another came home in the fourth on a double play. An RBI groundout from
Riley Brawdy plated
Mike Nauta in the fifth.
Arcadia pushed home another run in the bottom of the sixth, but the Bombers answered with four runs in the seventh and one more in the eighth to take an 8-5 advantage.
In the seventh,
Collin Feeney roped a triple to bring home Rothstein to start the rally. Brawdy then doubled home Feeney to tie the game at 5-5. IC took a 7-5 lead on a two-run single from
Louis Fabbo to cap off the inning. Brawdy and
Connor Pedersen scored on the base hit.
Feeney drove home another run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly, bringing home
Gil Merod.
The Knights fought back in the bottom of the ninth with three runs to send the game to extra innings.
Ithaca regained the lead in the top of the 11th on a two-run home run by Callaghan with Brawdy on base.
John Griffin finished off the game with a perfect 11th to earn the win.
Griffin tossed 5.0 innings of relief and struck out three batters and allowed four hits and three unearned runs.
Kyle Lambert started the opener for IC and fanned eight over 6.0 innings in a no-decision.
GAME TWO – Arcadia 16, Ithaca 9
Arcadia jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first inning on a double and sac fly, but the Bombers pushed home four runs in the third to make it a 4-2 contest.
An RBI fielder's choice by Pedersen brought in Merod and then Callaghan ripped an RBI single to center, allowing Feeney to score.
Matt Fabian then drove in a pair with a single through the left side of the infield.
It was all Arcadia from there as the Knights scored 14 runs over the next three innings to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 16-6 lead after six innings. The Bombers also scored twice in the sixth on a two-run double from Brawdy.
Ithaca pushed home three more runs in the ninth as
Josh Kaplan scored on a wild pitch and
Lucas Orlovitz drove in two with a single to left-center, plating
Ryan Laubscher and
David Cifonelli.
Garrett Bell took the loss in 4.0 innings as he allowed seven runs on four hits. Bell also struck out five.
Matt Chase,
Erislandy Rives and
Landon White combined to throw the final four innings in relief.
Ithaca heads to Long Island next weekend for games against the United States Merchant Marine Academy and St. Joseph's-Long Island.