In the bottom of the seventh inning with one out, senior pitcher and captain Tom Fishback stared down SUNY-Oneonta sophomore Ivan Plata, the last batter he would face in the contest. The Red Dragons designated hitter didn’t stand a chance, striking out for Fishback’s fourth of the day.

That’s the kind of afternoon Fishback had in the Bombers 10–3 win over host Oneonta. He went 7.2 innings, allowing only three earned runs, three walks, while striking out four. Fishback is now 3–2 on the season with a phenomenal 2.63 ERA.

While Fishback was sensational, the Blue and Gold’s offense was stellar as well. Ithaca took a 1–0 lead in the second and broke it open in the fifth with three more runs. After the Red Dragons responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to cut the lead to 4–2, the Bombers slashed the margin open again in the sixth with a four-run frame to put the score at 8–2.

In the inning, junior first baseman Trevor Wolf led off with a single, which was followed by three straight doubles from junior designated hitter Sean Weber, freshman infielder Matt Keller and junior second baseman Jarrod Surine. At this point, the Blue and Gold were up 7–2. Then Surrine stole third base and scored on a wild pitch.

This time, the Bombers were able to hold onto a big lead, something that has plagued them so far in this young season. It’s pretty clear, holding onto leads is a big part of why their record went from 2–9 to 6–10 over the past five games.

The Bombers host Utica College at 1 p.m. today from Freeman Field in an Empire 8 league battle.