The Ithaca College baseball team defeated the SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons 12–6 March 30. With the win the Blue and Gold improve to 7–5 on the season. With the loss the Red Dragons fall to 8–5 on the season.
In the first inning, Red Dragon junior infielder Brandon Torres drew a walk and then stole second and third base. Two batters later, senior catcher Sean Mullins walked before starting junior pitcher Robby Buffis of the Bombers got junior outfielder Dalton Beatty to ground out in a double play.
In the second inning, Buffis struggled to get outs after giving up two consecutive hits leading up to three runs. The Bombers made it a 3–1 ballgame in the bottom half of the inning with a single by junior outfielder Domenic Boresta, scoring sophomore pitcher Andrew Bailey.
After the Bombers got on the board in the second inning, the entire team came to life and woke up playing much better than before.
“I believe Robby started to get his off speed stuff over the plate so that helped him settle down,” head coach George Valesente said. “He stopped trying to overthrow. He was trying to overthrow earlier, so he was very erratic with his control, so we knew he could get his changeup and curveball over the plate which made a difference and getting those runs in helped him.”
In the third inning, senior catcher Ryan Henchey hit a home run deep into left field, tying the game at 3–3.
“I didn’t think the ball would go, but it just kept going and going,” Henchey said.
Buffis settled down in the third inning as well and had a 1–2–3 inning.
Red Dragon starting sophomore pitcher Robert Ottaviano gave up six runs in the fourth inning, thanks to timely hitting by the Bombers.
Sophomore catcher Adam Gallagher hit a triple to center field, bringing home Bailey and senior shortstop Trevor Thompson. After sophomore outfielder Matt Carey hit a double scoring Gallagher, Boresta hit the Bombers’ second triple of the inning and game, bringing Carey home to make it 11–3.
Freshman pitcher Tom Cosentino came in relief for Buffis in the sixth inning. Cosentino had four shutout innings, allowing two hits and three strikeouts.
“I’ve been working on a lot of stuff in the pen lately and it felt good to get a chance to go out there and throw and then throw for a few innings for the first time in a while,” Cosentino said.
The Bombers are back in action this weekend. The team will play at 6 p.m. April 1 in Hoboken, New Jersey, followed by a double header at noon and 2:30 p.m. on April 2 against Stevens Institute of Technology.
