On a cold and rainy Senior Day, the Ithaca College baseball team had nothing to sulk around about, as the team lit up the Hobart College Statesmen by scores of 8–4 and 9–0 on April 27. With those wins, the team clinched the no. 1 seed in the Liberty League and home field advantage for the Liberty League Crossover Series on May 4.
First Game:
Knowing the occasion and that home field advantage in the playoffs was at stake, the Bombers and especially their seniors came out on a mission.
Senior right fielder Colin Shashaty showed out, hitting 4-for-5 with one of those hits being the backbreaker against the Statesmen. After Shashaty scored in the first inning and sophomore second baseman Matt Curtis scored in the early stages of the second inning, Shashaty was set up to inflict serious damage in the latter part of the second.
Shashaty got up to bat with a man on first and second and proceeded to nail the ball down the right field line where it kept carrying and made its way out of the ballpark to make the Bombers lead 5–0 going into the top of the fourth.
This was only Shashaty’s second home run of his Bombers’ career and his first one since his sophomore season. Shashaty said it could not have been any more perfect.
“It was pretty awesome,” Shashaty said. “Can’t really script that any better. Middle line fastball, jumped all over it. That was actually my hundredth hit too, in my career, so pretty excited to get it all at once.”
On the other side of the plate, first-year pitcher Jack Picozzi looked like he was already a veteran of the team. Picozzi pitched 5.1 scoreless innings and struck out eight batters through his time on the mound. During Picozzi’s last full inning he went 1-2-3 and struck out the last batter looking. Picozzi’s down low and precise location on his pitches made it hard for the Statesmen batters to evaluate what was coming at them.
After sophomore catcher Logan Scully got a hold of a Statesman pitch and took it to deep center for a home run in the fifth, the Statesmen began to get their bearings in an attempt to make it a game during the seventh.
With two men on in the top of the seventh, Scully attempted to throw the runner on second out but this attempt turned disastrous when the ball went by second and the runner from third made his way home to make it 8–1. The Statesmen and Bombers both stayed quiet in the eighth but the Statesmen tried to make a run of it in the final inning.
Senior catcher Ben Landis came on to close for the Bombers, a rare sight as Landis has only pitched two innings throughout his collegiate career. With one out Statesman senior catcher Ty Gallagher sent a liner into center that ended up an RBI double. An RBI single and a walk with bases loaded would make the game 8–4 but with two outs Landis stopped the bleeding with a pop out.
Second Game:
The second game of the doubleheader would take longer than usual to commence. As a result of rainfall that began during the back half of game one, the second game was delayed until a little after 3 p.m. Despite the two and a half hour stoppage, the Bombers came out even more explosive than they were at 10 a.m.
After three scoreless innings of what looked like a pitchers duel between first-year pitcher Danny Drotos and Statesmen junior pitcher Griffin Snyder, the Bombers turned on their bats and made Snyder’s day as gloomy as the weather.
Scully began the assault with his second home run of the day, this time a two run moonshot over the left field wall to make it 3–0 Bombers. This seemed to be the end of the Bombers momentum in the inning as sophomore third baseman Nate Rodriguez and junior center fielder Collin Feeney both struck out, but with two outs the Bombers were not finished.
Senior left fielder Louis Fabbo singled to bring in Shashaty and senior third baseman/shortstop Ethan Rothstein followed that with a laser that beat a diving right fielder for a two RBI double. After a Curtis single brought in Rothstein, Scully found his place in the order being called again and delivered a liner single past short to bring in another run to end the inning up 8–0.
The Bombers controlled the Statesmen for the rest of the game, only allowing two more hits and preventing any runs from crossing the plate. The Bombers would escape unscathed 9–0.
With the win, the Bombers are in sole control of the Liberty League and will host the Liberty League Crossover series on May 4 at Freeman Field. Shashaty said he feels confident about the team going into the postseason.
“We feel good,” Shashaty said. “We’re finding ways to win. I think you saw yesterday and today, that’s just two different wins. Yesterday we won a 3–2 game, close game pitched really well, played good defense and today it was kind of an offensive juggernaut. So finding different ways to win is really important, especially in the playoffs.”
Looking Ahead:
The Bombers will next travel to play the University of Scranton in an out of conference matchup at 5 p.m. April 29 in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
