CORTLANDVILLE, N.Y. – The RIT baseball team split a doubleheader with Ithaca, Saturday, earning a 12-5 victory in the opener before falling, 14-8, in game-two in a pair of games played at Gutchess Lumber Sports Complex.
GAME 1 – RIT 12, Ithaca 5
Senior first baseman
Daniel Capra (North Salem, NY/North Salem) finished 2-for-5 with a run scored and five RBI while junior left fielder
Chris Reilly (Beachwood, OH/Beachwood) was 2-for-6 with a double, a triple and three RBI. Junior second baseman
Patrick Blackall (Hershey, PA/Hershey) was also 3-for-3 with two runs scored and three walks as the Tigers compiled 14 hits.
Senior
Collin Reformat (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) earned the victory, allowing seven this and three earned runs in five innings of work. Junior
Jon Opalewski (Rockaway, NJ/Morris Knolls) threw four innings of one-hit relief, striking out four Bombers without giving up a walk to earn a save.
RIT scored four runs in the first inning. Freshman shortstop
Randy Dodig (Saugerties, NY/Saugerties) drew a lead-off walk before Blackall followed with a single to left. Capra doubled to center to bring home Dodig before Reilly cleared the bases with a triple to right center. Junior right fielder
Ian Libby (Melrose, MA/Malden Catholic) scored Reilly with a single to right make it a 4-0 Tiger lead.
Ithaca scored one in the bottom of the first, but RIT responded with two in the top of the second on an RBI ground-out by Capra and an RBI double by Reilly. The Bombers responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning, before RIT made it an 8-3 game in the third on a two-run double by Capra.
RIT held Ithaca to a run in the fifth and another in the bottom of the ninth, while the Tigers tacked on a run in the seventh on a Capra sacrifice fly and three more in the eighth, including a two-run single by Dodig, to put the game out of reach.
GAME 2 – Ithaca 14, RIT 8
Reilly finished 2-for-3 with a run scored, two walks and two RBI, but Ithaca used a decisive eight-run seventh inning to earn the comeback victory.
RIT once again got out to a fast start with five runs in the first inning. Dodig was hit by a pitch to start the inning before Blackall doubled down the left field line. Capra loaded the bases with a walk before Reilly followed with a two-run double to center field. Reilly came around on a throwing error by the Ithaca second baseman on an infield single by Libby. Sophomore third baseman
Nate Kistler (Lusby, MD/Patuxent) eventually brought Libby home with an RBI ground out for the fifth run.
Ithaca bounced back with a run in the bottom of the first and plated runs in the second and third before tying the game, 5-5, with two in the fourth.
RIT broke the tie with a three-run sixth to take an 8-5 lead. Kistler singled to left and senior catcher
Kyle Watson (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) walked before graduate student center fielder
Brooks Vertoske (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) singled up the middle to bring home Kistler. Watson also scored on the play on a misplayed ball by the Ithaca centerfielder. Vertoske then scored on an error by the Bomber third baseman off the bat of Dodig.
Ithaca bounced back with a run in the bottom of the sixth, before plating eight runs on seven hits in the seventh, including four with two outs.
WHAT'S NEXT
RIT is scheduled to host St. John Fisher on Wednesday (Apr. 7) for a single game at 4:00 p.m.
