ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College baseball team took the season series against Skidmore on Saturday at Booth Field as the Bombers claimed both ends of a Liberty League doubleheader, 5-3 and 8-4. Ithaca is now 14-10 on the season and evens its Liberty League mark at 6-6.
GAME ONE: ITHACA 5, SKIDMORE 3
The Bombers took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a two-run home run to right from
Camden Laney with
Anthony Mestre on base. IC added two more runs in the second inning as
Matt Curtis led off with a double, then scored on a base hit to right from
Ethan Daddabbo, and
Sheldon Jay Walker III followed with a double to gap to bring home Daddabbo all the way from first base.
Skidmore picked up its first hit and run of the contest on a leadoff solo homer to right in the top of the third inning to make it a 4-1 game. A two-out double to right brought another run home for a 4-2 difference.
In the bottom of the fifth, Walker led off with a base hit and later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat off Laney to make it a 5-2 game.
Skidmore threatened in the ninth inning and scored one run on a sacrifice fly, but that was all the Thoroughbreds could manage as the game ended at 5-3.
Jack Picozzi improved to 3-2 on the mound as he struck out nine batters over seven innings and allowed two runs on three hits.
Trevor Greene and
Luke Zelinko each saw an inning out of the bullpen and Zelinko picked up his sixth save of the season.
Walker went 4-for-5 at the plate, while Laney and Sperger each collected two hits.
GAME TWO: ITHACA 8, SKIDMORE 4
Ithaca once again took an early lead in the bottom of the second as Curtis delivered a two-out, two-run double to left field with the base loaded, scoring Zach Sperger and
Ben Raspanti.
The lead increased to 3-0 as
Lucas Orlovitz led off the third with a triple and scored on the next at bat on a single from
Isaiah Smith.
Skidmore got on the board in the fifth by loading the bases on an error and two base hits, which set up a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1. Ithaca would regain its three-run lead in the bottom of the fifth as Orlovitz led off with a double and then scored on an infield single and error.
The Thoroughbreds knotted the contest up at 4-4 in the sixth on an RBI single, sacrifice fly and bases loaded walk, which knocked
Danny Drotos out of the game and
Cooper Albert entered in relief with the bases loaded and two outs. Albert got out of the jam with a strikeout.
IC jumped back ahead in the bottom half of the sixth as Laney drove in a pair of runs on a base hit to center to make it 6-4. Another run crossed the plate after Smith singled up the middle to extend the lead to three at 7-4.
Another run scored for the Bombers in the eighth as Curtis ripped a double down the line and moved up to third on a wild pitch to set up an RBI single off the bat of
Ethan Fantel.
Albert earned the win in 3.1 innings of relief as he allowed just one hit and struck out six batters. Drotos fanned four hitters in his outing of 5.2 innings.
Smith was 4-for-5 at the plate, while Curtis notched three hits and Laney and Orlovitz each had two hits in the win.
Ithaca is scheduled to play Keystone on Wednesday, April 14 at 4 p.m.
