Baseball | 5/9/2014 7:33:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

BROCKPORT, NY - The RIT baseball team wrapped up the 2014 season by sweeping the College at Brockport in a pair of non-conference contests on a warm, breezy, Friday afternoon at the Clark Whited Complex. The Tigers took game one, 5-2, and won a rain-shortened game two, 11-3 in five innings. RIT finishes the season with a 19-16 record, while Brockport is 25-16. It is RIT's first winning season since 2008.

Senior Ronnie Canestro (East Amherst, NY/Nichols) capped off his collegiate career by going 6-for-8 with five RBI's and four runs scored in the doubleheader. In the seventh inning of game one, Canestro also started the rare 7-4-3 ground ball double play, as he was playing in the hole between third base and shortstop.

In game one, RIT jumped out to a 3-0 lead after its first two at-bats and also led 4-1 and 5-2. In the first inning, Phil Sammon (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield) singled through the left side that scored Canestro, who singled to lead off. In the second inning, Canestro singled home CJ Bolorin (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta), who doubled with two outs. Canestro scored right after on a throwing error by the Golden Eagles.

After Brockport cut RIT's lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the second, RIT got the run right back in the third, as Matt Holtby (Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima) hit into a double play, scoring Will Gorman (Nassau, NY/Columbia), who doubled to lead off the inning and moved to third. Kyle Tracy would hit a solo home run in the fourth inning to cut the RIT lead to 4-2. In the seventh, Skip Flanagan (Framingham, MA/Bishop Feehan) hit an opposite field single that drove in Canestro to make it 5-2.

RIT's defense was excellent, turning two double plays and not committing an error in the contest. Conor Herlihy (Geneseo, NY/Geneseo) picked up his second win of the season, allowing four hits and two runs in four innings. Freshman David Nitsch (Penfield, NY/Penfield) needed just 18 pitches to fire two scoreless innings of work. Senior Tyler Leichtenberger (Warren, PA/Warren Area) fired 10 pitches in the seventh inning to record his sixth save of 2014 and school record 14th of his career.

Offensively in game one, Canestro was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a run batted in. Flanagan was 2-for-4 with a run batted in.

In game two, it was all RIT, as they scored the first 11 runs before the skies opened in the top of the sixth inning, cutting it short. Gorman hit a solo homer to right field in the second inning to open the scoring, while Canestro doubled in Zabel in the third inning. RIT exploded for seven runs on six hits in the fourth inning and four consecutive run scoring singles from Mike Myers (Hamilin, NY/Brockport), Zabel. Canestro, and Taylor Hogan (Rochester, NY/Brighton), a passed ball, and two-run single by Gorman. Canestro would rope a two-run double in the fifth to make it 11-0.

RIT ace Brandon Colhall picked up his fourth win of the season, allowing five hits and three runs in the complete-game five-inning victory. Canestro and Hogan were both 3-for-4. Canestro drove in four runs, while Goramn drove in three runs. Myers was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while Zabel, and Brian Battaglia (Sliver Spring, MD/James Hubert Blake) scored two runs each.

In the bottom of the fifth, Tracy would provide Brockport's offense, hitting a three-run home run right before the heavy rains arrived.

Brockport leads the all-time series between the two schools, 66-50. RIT went 2-1 against the Golden Eagles this season with a 13-5 loss at Tiger Stadium on April 21.

Today was the final game for seniors Canestro, Leichtenberger, Michael Burns (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta), and Walt Roman (Spencerport, NY/Spencerport).