Baseball | 4/17/2014 9:04:00 PM

Box Score

PITTSFORD, NY - The RIT baseball team (13-7) fell to No. 14 St. John Fisher College (19-2) by a score of 11-7 on a sunny, breezy  Wednesday afternoon at Dugan Yard. RIT committed a season-high eight errors in defeat, leading to seven unearned runs.

Heading into the afternoon, RIT had made just 24 errors in its first 19 games, resulting in a sparkling .964 fielding percentage. RIT out-hit St. John Fisher, 13-11.

St. John Fisher took a 2-0 lead with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the second inning. RIT would roar back with four runs in the top of the third on four hits. Zach Zabel (Clarence, NY/Clarence) reached on a error to lead off the inning. Ronnie Canestro (East Amherst, NY/Nichols) singled up the middle, and Chris Barr (North Wales, PA/North Penn ) loaded the bases with a perfect bunt base hit to the right side. After a fielders choice forced out Zabel at home, Skip Flanagan (Framingham, MA/Bishop Feehan) dropped a single into left center, plating a pair of runs to tie the game at 2-2. Phil Sammon (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield) promptly slammed a double down the left field line to score two more runs and give RIT a 4-2 lead.

In the bottom half of the inning however, RIT would committ two errors that led to five unearned runs for the Cardinals, giving them a lead they would not relinquish.

Fisher would make it 9-4 in the bottom of the fourth, but a two-run single by Walt Roman (Spencerport, NY/Spencerport) in the fifth would make it a three-run game once again. Mike Myers (Hamilin, NY/Brockport) would drive in RIT's seventh and final run with a single that scored CJ Bolorin (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) in the eighth inning.

Barr led the Tigers by going 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored. Canestro was 2-for-5 with two runs scored, while Flanagan was 2-for-5 with two RBI's and a run scored. Sammon and Roman also drove in a pair of runs.

RIT starting pitcher Seth Noreman (Old Bethpage, NY/Old Bethpage-JFK) allowed nine runs in 4 1/3 innings. Just two of the nine runs were earned. David Nitsch (Penfield, NY/Penfield) allowed just one hit and a run in 2 2/3 innings of relief, while Tom Dillon (Oswego, NY/Oswego) allowed two hits and a run in one inning of work.

Mike Roman, younger brother of RIT's Walt Roman (Spencerport, NY/Spencerport), was 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI's for St. John Fisher, who is 18-1 over its last 19 games. Cody Wiktorski and Malcolm Kelsey also had two hits each in thw win. Mitch Modlin came on in relief to earn the win, allowing just three hits and an unearned run over 3 1/3 innings.

St. John Fisher now leads the all-time series between the two schools, 37-28.

RIT is right back in action this weekend with four games at Liberty League rival St. Lawrence University. Friday's doubleheader from Tom Fay Field gets underway at 1 p.m., while Saturday's twin-bill starts at 12 p.m. Both teams are jockeying for playoff position in the Liberty League standings, as RIT is 8-3 in league play, while St. Lawrence is 6-3.