The Ithaca College baseball team experienced a tale of two extremes in its doubleheader against the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers on April 4. The Bombers went down to the wire, walking off game one 5-4 and getting walked off 2-1 in game two.
First Game:
First-year pitcher Ethan Murley took the mound for the Bombers and put in a solid day’s work, striking out four and only allowing one earned run and one unearned run through seven innings. Murley went to his best pitches early and made it so the Bombers would not start from behind.
With an offensive spark in the bottom of the first, the Bombers made it look like their trend of high-scoring games would continue. Graduate student outfielder Andrew McDermott led off and nailed a single into shallow left field that got the crowd energized immediately.
Senior outfielder Collin Feeney followed McDermott and hit a hard ball to short. Tigers’ senior shortstop Randy Dodig fielded it clean but sailed the ball over the second baseman’s head. Chaos ensued for the Tigers as McDermott sped his way to the plate and with his left hand reached out to beat a tag from the catcher. McDermott hopped up and beat his chest at the crowd. First-year first baseman Ethan Fantel added on, roping a ball between third and short for an RBI single to put the Bombers up 2-0 going into the second.
Murley held the Tigers’ offense up for the second inning, but after the Bombers could not get anything going in the bottom half, the Tigers clawed their way back into striking territory. Murley struggled with his control, walking the first two batters and then allowing a liner past second to load the bases. Under pressure, Murley locked back in and got a routine grounder to short to secure an out at second — but the throw to first was wide — allowing two Tigers to score. A silent crowd made the Tigers dugout cheers sound even louder. Murley did not let the fielding error get to him and struck out the following batter followed by another grounder, leaving the inning deadlocked at two.
Strong pitching from both sides limited the offenses to zero runs until the bottom of the fifth, when a hero emerged who also played the role in the ninth for the Bombers. With one out and two players on, junior second baseman Matt Curtis fired a ball into shallow right field, bringing in McDermott. After Curtis made it to first base he pumped his fist to a jubilant dugout. The no-run lull had been lifted.
Unfortunately for the Bombers, Curtis’ RBI single was the only run either team would get until the ninth inning. Going into the ninth, it looked like the Tigers would not have an answer for the Bombers but the margin for error was extremely tight.
Graduate student pitcher Sean Kelly looked rattled by the Tigers as he loaded up the bases with three walks. With two outs and the bases loaded, Tigers senior outfielder Adam Marsh ripped one through the middle of the field to bring in two runners and make it 4-3. The Bombers got out of the inning with no more damage, but the script had been flipped.
In the bottom of the ninth the Bombers were against the wall and trying to respond. First-year pitcher Ryan Moran hit two Bombers, walked McDermott and allowed senior Riley Brawdy to get on base off of a bunt. Moran hitting Feeney brought in a run, but Curtis was there to put the Tigers down.
Curtis pushed the ball up the third base line for a walk-off victory with McDermott galloping in to score. With the crowd united in cheers, Curtis stopped in the second base path to toss his helmet and jump into a sea of teammates.
Curtis said that in the moment, he focused on what the pitcher was giving him and when he got what he wanted, he capitalized on it.
“I had an 0-2 count, had a horrible swing on an 0-1 slider and I knew he was gonna throw another one,” Curtis said. “I told myself if he hung it, I was gonna hit it hard, and he did. I thought I hit it well and it was pretty cool.”
Second Game
Game two started out with a bang for the Bombers but the rest was more stagnant, with IC and RIT bullying each other’s batters into zero-offense innings.
Sophomore pitcher Jack Picozzi took the mound for the Bombers and went seven commanding innings, only allowing one run and striking out seven. The Bombers relied heavily on Picozzi because the offense struggled to give him a large gap to work with.
McDermott led off the first inning with a bunt toward third base that settled in just the right spot for him to beat out the throw. With one out, Curtis came up and sent a ball into shallow right field. Tigers junior right fielder Jackson Rusiecki dove for the ball, which gave McDermott just enough of a window to tag up from third and score while Rusiecki was on the ground. This was the last time the Bombers scored all game.
Despite a struggling offense the defense did not falter. In the bottom of the first, shortstop Riley Brawdy made a stellar play. He gloved a grounder while moving right, swim-moved the runner moving toward second and fired the ball to first for the out. These types of plays persisted — backed by solid pitching from Picozzi — until a fatal blow in the fourth.
The bottom of the fourth began with more defensive prowess from the South Hill Squad. Senior third baseman Ryan Laubscher fielded a grounder, and from an off-balance stance, he threw across his body to second and barely beat out the previous runner. That was the only highlight for the Bombers as Tigers’ junior outfielder Caelan Kim singled through the middle of the field to put a man on third. The following at-bat was a groundout, but the Bombers allowed the Tigers to score and the game was all knotted at one.
Despite Picozzi working the Tigers in the fifth, the bottom of the sixth was almost the game-clinching inning the Tigers needed. Picozzi allowed a single but responded by going up top and striking a batter out swinging. Even with Picozzi looking like he had regained momentum, he walked the next batter. To respond, Picozzi stepped off the rubber and turned to throw to second. Tigers’ sophomore outfielder Dorian Stroud was caught lacking and got picked off. Reinvigorated, Picozzi threw a hard ball down the middle for a flyout to close the inning with no damage. Picozzi got off the mound yelling and flexing in response to his play.
Junior pitcher Jack Colyer came in for the Bombers in the seventh and managed to let no one across the plate in two innings of routine work. Unfortunately, the Bombers’ offense was not as consistent. In the top of the ninth, the Bombers still could not pierce the Tigers’ defense. A Fantel walk was all the team could muster.
The bottom of the ninth spelled doom for the Bombers. With one out and one on, Rusiecki nailed a liner into left field and the Bombers could do nothing but watch as the Tigers poured onto Freeman Field victorious.
Curtis said he expected the Tigers to be a tough opponent and expects the same type of hard-fought battle in the final game of the series.
“We played [the Tigers] a lot in tournament play [and] the regular season the last few years,” Curtis said. “We know they can pitch well and we knew this game would be a grind. That’s how [April 6] is going to be again. You have to fight for every run and hopefully we can get enough to get a win.”
The Bombers will finish off their series against the Tigers at noon April 6 in Rochester, NY.
