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ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The RIT baseball team won the Liberty League Tournament title by defeating #3-seed Hobart, 17-5, in the tournament's decisive Game 7 after falling to the Statesmen in the first game of the day, 17-6.  

The win gives #1-seeded RIT their first Liberty League Tournament since 2017 as the Tigers earned the conference's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Division III Tournament.  

GAME 6 – Hobart 17, RIT 6 

• Senior Jarin Moses drove in senior Trent Rapp with a single to left field in the bottom of the first to put the Tigers on the board.  

• Hobart scored the next seven runs, including two runs in the top of the fourth to make it a 7-1 lead. 

• RIT got two runs back in the bottom of the fifth when senior Charlie Slaymaker doubled to left field, bringing in Moses and Rapp to put the score a 7-4. 

• The Statesmen added runs in the next three innings to extend their lead to 17-4.  

• Graduate student Max Matteucci hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to round out the scoring.  

• Hobart finished with 17 runs on 14 hits, drawing 12 walks in the contest. 

• RIT totaled 12 hits, including extra-base hits from several Tigers, but was unable to slow Hobart's offensive surge. 

GAME 7 – RIT 17, Hobart 5 

• After Hobart scored a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, RIT responded quickly by scoring three runs in the bottom of the inning before building a 7-3 advantage through three frames. 

• The Tigers broke the game open with a six-run fourth inning, highlighted by a double to right center by junior Evan Kurtz that drove in Matteucci and Mikey Zacher.  

• In the sixth inning, senior Jackson Rusiecki singled to left field, which allowed Kurtz and senior Charlie Slaymaker to score, making the score 16-5.  

• The Tigers finished with 17 runs on 18 hits in the championship-clinching win. 

• RIT's pitching staff settled in after the early innings and limited Hobart to just five runs while stranding runners throughout the game. 

GAME NOTES 

• Kurtz finished the two games 8-for-10 with six doubles, 12 RBIs, and five runs scored across the two games. 

• Rusiecki finished the day 4-for-6 with five RBIs, four runs scored, and a pair of doubles in the winner-take-all Game 7. 

• Matteucci recorded three hits and four RBIs on the day. 

• Moses reached base four times in Game 7, finishing with two hits, two hit-by-pitches, an RBI, and three runs scored. 

• Rapp doubled twice and scored twice in Game 7, finishing 2-for-5 in the championship clincher. 

• Ryan Merkov earned the win in Game 7, tossing five innings of relief, allowing just two hits and one run while striking out four. The graduate student was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after earning two wins in the tournament for the Tigers.  

• RIT totaled 35 hits and 23 runs across the two games.  

WHAT'S NEXT 
RIT will find out where and who they will play in the next week's NCAA Regionals on Monday (May 11) at noon when the bracket is revealed during the selection show on NCAA.com.