ROCHESTER, NY – The No. 3 seed RIT baseball team (22-18) had its 2019 season come to an end, falling by a score of 2-1 to top seed University of Rochester (26-15) in the second elimination game at the Liberty League Championship Tournament from Towers Field Friday evening.
 
RIT's Collin Reformat (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) and Rochester's Jon Turk waged an excellent pitcher's duel in a game that took just 1:45 to complete. Reformat did not allow a hit over the first 5 2/3 innings. Steve Pickering broke up the no-hitter with a two-out single up the middle in the sixth inning. Reformat would need just 88 pitches to throw a season-high seven innings, allowing just three hits and two runs, while striking out four batters. Liam Barry (Syracuse, NY/West Genesee) threw a scoreless eighth inning in relief.
 
Turk went seven innings for the Yellowjackets, allowing five hits and one run, while walking two batters and striking out five in seven innings to earn the win. Brendan Shamieh came on and scattered leadoff singles in both the eighth and ninth innings but struck out three batters to record his seventh save of the season.
 
RIT would open the scoring in the top of the third inning, as Patrick Blackall (Hershey, PA/Hershey) hit a two-out single though the left side that scored Kyle Terzini (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool). RIT threatened to extend the lead, but would leave the bases loaded in the inning.
 
The Yellowjackets would get on the board in the bottom of the seventh, as a walk and infield single set the table for Jake Hertz, who went the opposite way to lace a triple down the right field line, scoring both runners to give Rochester a 2-1 lead.
 
RIT would get leadoff singles in both the top of the eighth and ninth inning off of Shamieh, but could not get the tying run across.
 
Blackall would go 3-for-4 with a triple and RIT's lone run batted in. The RBI was his 40th of the season, which is tied for the fifth most in one season all-time at RIT. Kyle Watson (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) added a pair of singles.
 
Rochester won three of five games this season against RIT. The Yellowjackets took both games of a doubleheader a Towers Field on Marc 24, while RIT rebounded with a doubleheader sweep from Tiger Stadium on April 2.
 
Yesterday, RIT fell to No. 2 seed Clarkson, 6-5, while Rochester rolled to a 10-0 win over No. 4 seed Rensselaer. Earlier today, RIT eliminated Rensselaer, 11-3, while Rochester lost to Clarkson, 16-9.
 
Rochester will take on No. 2 seed Clarkson University in the Championship round at noon on Saturday. Clarkson needs one win to earn the Liberty League Championship, while Rochester will need to win two games Saturday.
 
Tonight marked the final collegiate game for seniors Michael Campbell (Honeoye Falls, NY/McQuaid Jesuit), Ben Clough (Tolland, CT/Tolland), Patrick Mylott (Aurora, OH/Western Reserve Academy), Jason Schulz (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) and Daniel Zeglen (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville). They helped lead RIT to the 2017 Liberty League Championship in addition to postseason berths in 2018 and 2019, while winning 93 games in four seasons.
 
"We have a great group of seniors who really lead by example," said RIT head coach Rob Grow. "We had a lot of injuries to deal with and this group help make the younger guys better."