BEVERLY, Mass. – The Ithaca College baseball team trailed by as many as seven runs in the opening game of the NCAA Division III Super Regional at No. 4 Endicott College as the Bombers dropped the contest, 12-10, after a late comeback effort. Ithaca, which is now 31-15, will need to win twice tomorrow to move onto the College World Series.

The Bombers fell behind Endicott (44-7), 8-1, after six and a half innings before the comeback got underway. In the bottom of the seventh, IC plated six runs to claw back to within an 8-7 difference.

Gil Merod would drive in the first run of the inning with a single to right, which allowed Mike Nauta to score. IC would then load the bases and Louis Fabbo brought all three runners home – Merod, Ryan Brawdy and Ethan Rothstein – on a double to left field. Now with the score 8-5, Matt Fabian singled to center to plate Fabbo and Colin Shashaty drove a base hit to left to bring in Garrett Callaghan.

Reeling from the six-run seventh, Endicott needed an answer. The Gulls had their first two outs of the eighth inning retired quickly, but then strung together four straight hits to push their lead back out to five runs at 12-7.

The Bombers responded in the bottom of the eighth with three more runs to make it 12-10. Brawdy scored on a Collin Feeney double, and Fabbo followed with a two-run base hit to push home Merod and Feeney.

IC would be retired in order in the bottom of the ninth to end the comeback.

Fabbo drove in five runs on two hits, while Feeney, Callaghan, Fabian and Merod all collected two-hit games.

Kyle Lamber took the loss as he allowed six runs on seven hits in 6.0 innings pitched. Lambert did strikeout five batters to break his own school record and now has 101 this season. Jack Colyer, Dan Kellachan and John Griffin threw the final 3.0 innings of relief.

The first game tomorrow will begin at 11 a.m.