ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College baseball team and RIT played two tightly contested Liberty League games on Friday in a doubleheader at Freeman Field as both games finished on walk-off base hits. Ithaca won the opener, 5-4, while RIT prevailed in the nightcap, 2-1. The Bombers are now 13-9 on the season and 6-2 in the Liberty League.
GAME ONE: Ithaca 5, RIT 4
The Bombers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Andrew McDermott scored from second on an error and then Collin Feeney crossed the plate on an RBI single from Ethan Fantel.
RIT loaded the bases in the top of the third on back-to-back walks and a base hit and then tied the game as a fielder’s choice turned into two runs on a throwing error.
IC went back ahead in the fifth as McDermott led off with a hit by pitch and moved over to third following a sacrifice bunt and infield single by Fantel. Matt Curtis then gave the Bombers a 3-2 lead with an RBI base hit to right.
Ethan Murley went seven-plus innings in his start and allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits with four strikeouts. Sean Kelly entered in relief in the eighth inning and retired all three batters he faced, but ran into issues in the ninth and loaded the bases on three walks, which led to a two-run base hit to give RIT the 4-3 lead.
The Bombers wasted no time in the bottom of the ninth to put runners in scoring position Ryan Laubscher led off with a hit by pitch, followed by a bunt single from Riley Brawdy and walk to McDermott. Another hit by pitch to Feeney tied the game at 4-4 and Curtis delivered a one-out base hit down the line to score McDermott for the winning run.
GAME TWO: RIT 2, Ithaca 1
The Bombers scored their only run in the first inning when McDermott and Feeney both reached on singles, Fantel would hit a ground ball to shortstop advancing both runners to put runners on second and third with one out, Curtis would record the lone RBI for this game on a sac fly to left field to score McDermott.
Jack Picozzi started on the mound for the Bombers kept RIT off the board until the bottom of the fourth inning when RIT would record one hit, and one run scored to tie the score at 1-1.
The game would remain 1-1 until the bottom of the ninth when Jack Colyer gave up a walk-off double down the left field line that would bring in the winning run, 2-1.
Picozzi would throw 6.0 innings giving up one run on four hits, four walks, and striking out seven. Colyer would throw 2.1 innings giving up one run on two hits, two walks, striking out one.
Ithaca will travel to RIT on Sunday to play the rubber match of this three-game set at 12 p.m.
