ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY – The RIT baseball team (6-6, 3-3 Liberty League) earned a doubleheader split at Liberty League foe Bard College (8-11, 2-4 Liberty League) from frigid Honey Field Saturday afternoon. Bard won game one, 2-1, while the Tigers cruised to a 13-3 victory in game two.
RIT was the home team for both games, as the weekend contests were scheduled to be played at Tiger Stadium. Winter weather and unplayable field conditions pushed the games to Honey Field at Bard, a turf facility.
Jason Schulz (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) and
Navada Waterman (Coudersport, PA/Coudersport) drove in four runs apiece in the doubleheader. After mustering just four hits in game one, the Tigers had 23 batters reach base on the strength of 11 walks, 10 hits and two batters hit by pitch in game two.
Game one was a fierce pitcher's duel, as RIT ace
Brian Reed (Rochester, NY/Penfield) and Bard's Evan Richardson battled strikeout for strikeout. Both pitchers hurled complete games, with under 100 pitches, while striking out 11 batters apiece. Richardson allowed just four hits and two walks, while Reed gave up eight hits without a walk.
RIT took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, as
Daniel Zeglen (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) walked and scored on a double by Schulz. The Raptors would respond with a run in the fifth to tie the game and one in the sixth to take the lead. Lee Perry had the game-winning RBI in the sixth inning, driving in Rory Maglich, who tripled.
The Tigers exploded for a season-high 13 runs in game two, scoring three times in the first inning, before pulling away with six runs in the fourth and four more in the sixth.
Waterman was 2-for-5 with a career-best four RBIs, while scoring two runs and stealing a base. Schulz was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a pair of stolen bases.
Joey Mylott (Aurora, OH/Western Reserve Academy) was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, two RBIs and a walk.
Sean Pufpaff (Grand Island, NY/Grand Island) walked twice and scored a pair of runs.
Stevie Branche (New Paltz, NY/New Paltz) picked up his first win of the season on the mound, scattering eight hits over six innings, while striking out five batters.
Nick Claver (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) needed just 16 pitches for two scoreless innings of relief, while
Dennis Houlihan (Sugar Loaf, NY/Warwick Valley) struck out the side in a scoreless ninth inning to close it out.
Matt Lasky scored all three runs for the Raptors in game two, driven in by Dillon Daine all three times.
The win in game one was Bard's first over RIT in program history. The Tigers lead the all-time series between the two schools, 12-1.
RIT and Bard will play a second doubleheader from Honey Field on Sunday afternoon, starting at 12 p.m.
