AUBURNDALE, FL – The RIT baseball team (2-2) nearly rallied from a three-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning before coming up short, falling to No. 1 UMass Boston (8-1), 4-3 at Lake Myrtle Park on Tuesday afternoon.
The Beacons jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, scoring once in the top of the second inning and twice in the third. RIT answered in the bottom of the sixth inning, when
Daniel Zeglen (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) greeted reliever Mike Doherty by hitting a lead-off home run to left field, cutting the UMass Boston lead to 3-1. The Beacons added what proved to be a crucial insurance run in the top of the inning on a RBI single by Eddie Riley to make it 4-1.
RIT would mount a comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning, looking to garner its second walk-off win in four days.
Patrick Mylott (Aurora, OH/Western Reserve Academy) led off with a double and moved to third on a single by
Jason Schulz (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool).
Daniel Capra (North Salem, NY/North Salem) would single to center field, scoring Mylott and sending Schulz to third, cutting the Beacons lead to 4-2. After a fielder's choice,
Joey Mylott (Aurora, OH/Western Reserve Academy) hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Schulz to make it a 4-3 game.
Navada Waterman (Coudersport, PA/Coudersport), the walk-off hero Saturday, grounded out to second to end the game.
U Mass Boston out-hit RIT, 8-7. The Beacons left eight men on base, while the Tigers stranded seven runners. Both teams committed one error.
Schulz and
Benjamin Terzini (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) led the Tigers with two hits apiece, while
Dom Scialabba (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick) walked twice.
Stevie Branche (New Paltz, NY/New Paltz) earned the start on the mound for RIT, going five innings, allowing six hits and three runs (two earned), while walking two batters and striking out four.
Brett Bouchard (Fairport, NY/Fairport) came on in relief and was incredibly efficient, needing just 44 pitches, while allowing just two hits and a run, while striking out five batters.
Ryan McCormick went 3-for-4 with a run scored and RBI, while Nick Herzog was 2-for-4 with a run-scoring triple to lead the way offensively for UMass Boston. Josh Gerson picked up the win on the mound for the Beacons, allowing just one hit in five scoreless innings. Bryan Kaufman allowed a pair of runs in 2 2/3 innings, while Fernando Burgos earned the save, getting the last three outs in the ninth.
It was the second meeting in the last three days between the two schools, with UMass Boston coming out on top, 9-2 on Sunday.
RIT wraps up its season-opening Florida trip at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday against University of Wisconsin-La Crosse from Lake Myrtle Park.
