The Ithaca College baseball team swept SUNY Canton April 14–15, playing the team twice in a doubleheader April 14, and then once more April 15. All three games took place in Canton, New York. The successful weekend saw the Bombers improve to 16–8 overall, and earn three Empire 8 wins, moving them to 8–3 in conference play this season.
The first game April 14 finished 9–2 in favor of the Bombers. Sophomore pitcher Jake Binder earned his fifth win of the season on the mound and remains undefeated.
The Blue and Gold took a 4–0 lead after the top of the first inning. The Kangaroos then answered with runs of their own in the bottom of the first and second innings, leaving the score 4–2 going into the top of the third inning.
The Bombers offense took off from there. An RBI single from sophomore outfielder Matt Carey sent junior outfielder Domenic Boresta home and giving the Bombers a 5–2 lead and they continued to build unanswered runs for the rest of the game.
In the second game, the final score was 11–5 in favor of the Bombers as well. Earning the win pitching in this game was sophomore Chris Marinaccio, who is now 2–0.
The Bombers took a 1–0 lead in the first inning off a sacrifice fly by sophomore right fielder Sam Little which sent senior second baseman Josh Savacool home. The Kangaroos came back strong offensively, scoring four unanswered runs of their own until the top of the fifth inning. Little and senior shortstop Trevor Thompson each hit a home run, bringing the score to 4–3.
The Bombers continued the strong showing with four unearned runs, thanks to an RBI from Carey and a three-run RBI from Savacool, giving the Bombers a 7–4 lead until the bottom of the seventh inning. Junior designated hitter Wilson Matos hit a home run for the Kangaroos, bringing the score to 7–5.
The Bombers scored the last four runs of the game off of RBIs in the ninth inning.
The third and final game of the trip saw the Bombers win by their largest margin of the weekend 12–3. Redshirt sophomore pitcher Jack Morello stepped up on the mound, getting the win and improving to 4–2 on the season.
After a 2–0 first inning in favor of the Bombers, scoring this game started out slow. No team scored until the bottom of the fourth when the Kangaroos earned a run off of a fielding error to bring the score to 2–1.
Little broke open the high scoring for the Bombers in the top of the fifth inning with an RBI double that brought home sophomore utility player Webb Little as well as Savacool. Senior catcher Ryan Henchey brought home Thompson on a sacrifice fly to end the inning 5–1 in favor of the Bombers.
After both teams got a run each in the sixth inning and the Kangaroos earned one run in the eighth inning, the score was 6–3 with the Bombers still leading. The Blue and Gold were able to pull away and seal the victory with a six-run ninth inning.
The Bombers’ next game is a double header at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. April 19 against Houghton College in Houghton, New York.
