PATCHOGUE, N.Y. - The Ithaca college baseball team split an out of conference doubleheader with St. Joseph's (Long Island) on Saturday. IC came up short in the opener, dropping the game, 5-2, but won the second game, 12-3. Ithaca is now 2-2 on the season.
GAME ONE: St. Joseph's 5, Ithaca 2 (7 innings)
Ithaca and St. Joseph's started the game off slow offensively, with St. Joseph's landing the first blow in the fourth inning with a bases loaded single bringing home the game's first two runs, giving them a 2-0 lead.
The Bombers struck back in the top of the fifth inning with a
Tyler Pugliese leadoff single.
Colin Dunn checked into the game for Pugliese to pinch-run, and advanced from first to third on an errant pickoff attempt.
Connor Pedersen then brought home Dunn with a single to right field making it a 2-1 ballgame.
Collin Feeney would then work a walk which set up an
Ethan McDonough game-tying single to right field, bringing Pedersen home making it a 2-2 game. The Bombers could not capitalize with runners on 2nd and 3rd and ended the inning.
St. Joseph's would go on to respond in the bottom of the fifth inning with a 1-out RBI single, giving the Golden Eagles a 3-2 lead. They tacked onto their lead with a 2-run homerun the very next batter, making it 5-2.
The Bombers attempted to mount a 2-out comeback late in the 7th. It started with a Feeney single to left field, followed by a McDonough walk and a
Camden Laney hit by pitch, but, the Bombers were unable to score any runners with bases loaded.
Colin Leyner started on the mound for IC and went 5.0 innings and allowed five runs on nine hits and four strikeouts. Leyner notched his 200th career strikeout.
Dan Kellachan came in for 1.0 innings of relief and struck out all three batters he faced.
GAME TWO: Ithaca 12, St. Joseph's 3
Ithaca jumped on St. Joseph's early in game two, putting up a five spot in the top of the first. It started with a
Collin Feeney leadoff no doubt home run to right field. IC would then load the bases with a McDonough walk and back to back hits from Laney and
Matt Curtis.
Andrew McDermott worked a walk to bring McDonough home. Followed up by a
Riley Brawdy single to center which scored Laney. The Bombers tacked on two more runs via an
Ethan Daddabbo sacrifice fly and a
Lucas Orlovitz RBI groundout.
The Bombers did not let off the gas pedal as they tallied three more runs in the top of the second inning.
Ethan McDonough singled up the middle to bring
Collin Feeney home and later in the inning RIley Brawdy drove in McDonough and McDermott with a single to center.
The Golden Eagles responded in the bottom of the third with a 2-RBI single and a bases loaded walk to make it an 8-3 ball game.
Scoring went stagnant for the next few innings until the top of the sixth inning when McDonough tripled into the right center gap, scoring Feeney who reached via walk and swiped second base.
Curtis then drove in a run with a single to center extending IC's lead to 10-3.
Ithaca tallied two more runs in the top of the ninth inning with a
Max Salerno RBI triple, scoring Orlovitz. Salerno then scored due to an error by the 2nd baseman on a ball hit by Sheldon Walker III. This gave the Bombers a 12-3 lead, which was the final score.
Trevor Greene started on the mound for IC and went 6.0 innings and allowed three runs on three hits and six strikeouts, he also notched the win for a 1-0 record on the season.
Cooper Albert came into relief in the seventh inning where he struck out all three batters he faced.
Ethan Fantel pitched a scoreless eighth inning allowing one hit. Reid Bailey closed out the ninth
inning giving up one hit, one walk and struck out two.
