POTSDAM, N.Y. – The Ithaca College baseball team improved to 20-11 on the season and 9-4 overall on the Liberty League with a doubleheader sweep at Clarkson on Friday with victories of 9-4 and 12-6. Ithaca and Clarkson will conclude its three-game series tomorrow with a nine-inning game at 12 p.m.
GAME ONE: Ithaca 9, Clarkson 4
Ithaca raced out to a 4-0 lead by the top for fifth inning in the opener as the Bombers scored once in the second, once in the third and twice in the fifth.
Riley Brawdy scored the first run of the game with a double steal in the second inning, while
Collin Feeney scored on a groundout by
Garrett Callaghan in the third. Callaghan then drove in two more runs in the fifth with a double to the right-center gap, bringing in
Connor Pedersen and
Louis Fabbo.
Clarkson got on the board with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Bombers got another run back on an attempted double steal in the sixth that allowed Brawdy to come home, making it a 5-1 game.
The Golden Knights would pull back to within a 5-4 difference by the bottom of the eighth inning, but IC plated four runs in the top of the ninth inning to put the game away for a 9-4 win.
Fabbo started the rally with a two-run single that brought home Feeney and
Gil Merod. A few at bats later,
Ryan Laubscher drove home Fabbo with a single to center and then Shashaty plated the final run with a bunt single that allowed Callaghan to score.
Kyle Lambert improved to 3-2 on the year as he struck out eight batters over 7.1 innings as he allowed four runs on eight hits.
John Griffin earned the save in 1.2 innings of relief.
GAME TWO Ithaca 12, Clarkson 6
IC put up five runs after two innings and never looked back en route to a 12-6 win. The Bombers scored three times in the first as Callaghan, Shashaty and Brawdy all drove in runs. In the second inning, Feeney and Callaghan notched RBIs with base hits as Merod and
Ethan Rothstein scored to make it a 5-0 contest.
Clarkson attempted a comeback with four runs over its next three at bats to pull to within 5-4 by the bottom of the fourth, but IC blew the game over with seven runs between the fifth and seventh innings.
In the fifth, Brawdy doubled in Callaghan and then Fabbo blasted a two-run home run in the sixth. Rothstein then brought in two more with a single in the seventh as Laubscher and Brawdy crossed the plate, and then Feeney capped off the game with a two-run double that plated Rothstein and Merod.
Feeney and Brawdy both went 4-for-4, while Callaghan was 3-for-4.
Colin Leyner earned the win in 5.1 innings of work with two strikeouts. Leyner gave up six runs (five earned) on nine hits.
Matt Chase picked up the save in 1.2 innings with two strikeouts.