SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – The RIT baseball team (16-6, 10-3 Liberty League) split a Liberty League doubleheader at Skidmore College (8-16, 2-12 Liberty League) on Sunday afternoon. Skidmore won game one, 7-4, while RIT rebounded behind a dominant pitching performance from senior Conor Herlihy (Geneseo, NY/Geneseo) to take game two, 5-0.
 
Herlihy was the story in game two, needing just 89 pitches for his first collegiate shutout and second complete game. He allowed just four singles and just one runner to reach second base in the contest. Herlihy, who improved to 3-0 on the season, did not walk a batter and struck out three. He coerced 14 groundouts and nine flyouts.
 
RIT scored twice in the second inning and added single runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings. Zach Zabel (Clarence, NY/Clarence) got RIT on the board in the second inning with a bases loaded single to right field, scoring Will Gorman (Nassau, NY/Columbia) and Hogan, who both singled to start the frame.
 
The Tigers gained a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning, as Skip Flanagan (Framingham, MA/Bishop Feehan) singled to move up runners to second and third, but Brian Battaglia (Sliver Spring, MD/James Hubert Blake) would score on a throwing error by the second baseman. Gorman led off the sixth inning with his fifth home run of the season, a towering blast to right field, making it 4-0 Tigers. Ben Terzini (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) would drive in Zabel with a fielder's choice in the seventh inning to complete the scoring.
 
Gorman was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored, run batted in, and a walk. Zabel was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while Flanagan was 2-for-4.
 
In game one, RIT walked 10 times, but unfortunately, left 13 men on base, including bases loaded in both the third and fifth innings. Skidmore would take advantage of three RIT errors to score four unearned runs.
 
Andrew Bannon got the won for the Throughbreds despite walking 10 batters in five innings. Shankar Mani earned the save, throwing two scoreless innings of relief.
 
Skidmore's Josh Brown provided the big blow, a grand slam home run to left field off RIT starter Brandon Cohall (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas) in the top of the third inning, giving Skidmore a 6-3 lead that they would not relinquish.
 
RIT threatened all game, but could not get the big hit. Phil Sammon (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield) went 2-for-3 with a home run in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game at 2-2. Chris Barr (North Wales, PA/North Penn ), Ben Terzini (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool), and Flanagan would also drive in runs for the Tigers. Zabel walked three times and stole a base.
 
Cohall took the loss for RIT, allowing seven hits and three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. Tom Dillion and Brian Sheridan (Trumansburg, NY/Trumansburg) combined to throw 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Sheridan would strike out a pair of batters in the seventh inning.
 
The Tigers are now 17-11 all-time against the Thoroughbreds and won the regular season series, 3-1. Yesterday, RIT won both games against Skidmore by scores of 13-2 and 14-7.

RIT is back in action on Wednesday with a single, nine-inning game at St. John Fisher College that gets underway at 4 p.m.