AMSTERDAM, NY – For the second straight day, the RIT baseball team (9-11, 4-4 Liberty League) dropped a pair of games to Liberty League foe Union College (11-4, 7-1 Liberty League) at Shuttleworth Field on Sunday. RIT led in both games before falling in game one, 5-2, and 7-6 in game two.
In the opener, RIT jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, but could not get a big hit the rest of the way, leaving 11 men on base.
RIT would get on the board right away, as
Taylor Hogan (Rochester, NY/Brighton) walked and stole second before
Will Gorman (Nassau, NY/Columbia) drew a walk.
Phil Sammon (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield) would single to left field, scoring Hogan to make it a 1-0 game.
Brian Battaglia (Sliver Spring, MD/James Hubert Blake) would single, but on the play, Gorman would be thrown out at the plate trying to score from second.
Dom Scialabba (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick) would walk and
Daniel Zeglen (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Sammon to give RIT a 2-0 edge. RIT would leave the bases loaded, however.
Union would score three times in the third to take the lead and add two more runs in the fifth on a two-run homer by Eric Egan.
RIT would continue to get men on base, but were unable to get a big hit, leaving the bases loaded in the fourth inning, while leaving a pair of runners on in both the sixth and seventh innings.
Jamie Faber went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI to lead the Dutchemen. On the mound, Nick Williams allowed 13 base runners, but was able to wiggle out of trouble all game, allowing just two runs in six innings for the win. Matt Yonta picked up the save, allowing a hit and walk, while striking out two in the final inning.
Zach Zabel (Clarence, NY/Clarence) reached base three times for the Tigers, while Sammon was 2-for-4 with a run scored and driven in.
Brandon Cohall (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas) took the loss on the mound, allowing eight hits and three earned runs with four strikeouts in the complete-game effort, firing 102 pitches.
In game two, RIT rallied from a 3-1 deficit before scoring four times in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 5-3 lead. Hogan drove in a pair of runs with a single up the middle, scoring Zabel and
Jason Schulz (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool), before Sammon doubled in Gorman and Hogan to make it 5-3.
Union would rally against the RIT bullpen, tying the game with two runs in the seventh, then Joe Ganim hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth to put the Dutchmen up 7-5. Gorman would answer with a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth, making it 7-6, but that was as close as RIT would get.
Gorman reached base four times for RIT in game two, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two walks. He hit his 11th career home run, good for third all-time at the university. Hogan was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, while Sammon hit two doubles and drove in a pair of runs. Schulz doubled en route to a 2-for-3 day with a run scored and a walk.
Jameson Moran (Geneseo, NY/Geneseo),
Brett Bouchard (Fairport, NY/Fairport), and
Kyle Povlock (Fairport, NY/Fairport) combined to throw just 95 pitches in the nine-inning loss.
Ganim homered twice, driving in five runs, while Kent Curran also went deep for Union. Yonta earned the win, allowing just two hits and one run over the final 3 1/3 innings of relief.
Yesterday, Union won the first two games of the season series, defeating RIT 6-0 in game one, and 3-2 in game two.
The Tigers are back in action on Thursday, hosting St. John Fisher in a non-league contest that gets underway at 4 p.m. RIT will also host Rensselaer in a pair of Liberty League doubleheaders next Saturday and Sunday.
