After ending the regular season with four consecutive wins, the Ithaca College baseball team cruised to a 9–1 victory over Stevens Institute of Technology in the first round of the Empire 8 tournament on May 12.
The Bombers got off to a fast start, scoring one run in the third inning and three in the fourth inning. An RBI single from freshman Webb Little highlighted the fourth inning after a series of miscues from the Stevens defense.
The Blue and Gold offense picked things up again in the seventh inning as junior designated hitter Ryan Henchey hit a double, bringing home one run before scoring himself on a wild pitch. Later in the inning, freshman catcher Adam Gallagher hit a triple which sent sophomore Domenic Boresta home.
Gallagher’s strong performance continued in the ninth inning, as he sealed the victory for the Bombers with a home run to left field to increase the lead to 9–0. Stevens picked up a run in the ninth, but it was far too late to mount any sort of comeback against the Bombers’ dominant pitching staff.
Senior pitcher John Prendergast, who began the game, was in peak form, as he went seven innings without allowing a run and allowed only two hits. Freshman Andrew Bailey pitched a scoreless eighth inning before junior Logan Barer came in to close out the game.
As a team, the Bombers totaled 16 hits, and each player that collected a hit had two or more. Little led the offense, going 3–5 with one run batted in, while senior first baseman Zach Cole also managed three hits. Gallagher drove in two runs on two hits, while junior second baseman Josh Savacool also collected two hits.
The Blue and Gold, who are the second seed in the tournament, return to action at 1 p.m. May 13 against Utica College, who are the fourth seed, at Dugan Yard in Rochester, New York. Utica upset the top-seeded St. John Fisher College Cardinals in the first round of the tournament May 12 to improve to 9–31–1 on the season. The Bombers are 1–3 against Utica on the season, but scored 20 runs in their last meeting April 17.
