In a matchup between two of the top teams in the region, nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College split its doubleheader on Friday with nationally-ranked Ithaca College at Fisher's Dugan Yard. The Cardinals, ranked No. 14 nationally, dropped the opener 7-2, but battled back to beat the Bombers, ranked 25th nationally, 3-2 in the nightcap.
Fisher (20-3 overall, 3-1 Empire 8) will host the Bombers (20-7, 8-2) two more times on Saturday, with the first game starting at 12 p.m.
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Game One: Ithaca 7, Fisher 2 Both teams scored all their runs in just one inning. The Cardinals jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first.
Chris Roeder doubled and scored on an RBI-single from
Nick Flemister. Three batters later, Flemister scored on a double from
Cody Wiktorski.
It would stay 2-0 until the top of the sixth inning, when the Bombers used five hits and two errors to produce seven runs. Ithaca's John Prendergrast would do the rest, as the junior pitcher hurled all seven innings, while allowing eight hits and striking out six, raising his record to 8-0 on the year.
Flemister finished the game with three hits, while Roeder tallied two hits.
Freshman
Marc Iseneker was tagged with his first collegiate loss, four runs on seven hits over 5.1 innings of action.
Game Two: Fisher 3, Ithaca 2Junior pitcher
Mike Rynerson earned his first win of the season, tossing eight innings, yielding just six hits and two earned runs.
Ryan Smith threw a perfect ninth and tallied one strikeout to pick up his fourth save of the season.
Ithaca struck first with two runs in the top of the third to take a 2-0 lead, but the Cardinals would battle back to score the game's final three runs to defeat the Bombers, 3-2.
After recording the first out in the top of the third, Rynerson would run into trouble. The next three Bombers would reach base with two singles and a walk before a 2-RBI single through the left side gave Ithaca a 2-0 lead.
Rynerson would settle down after that, retiring 16 of his final 20 batters while allowing just three hits.
With Ithaca still leading 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Fisher would tack on two runs to take the 3-2 lead.
Cam Allen led the inning off with a single, before
Mike Fahy notched a double into center field. With runners at second and third,
Chris Roeder and
Nick Flemister hit back-to-back sacrifice flies to put Fisher for good.
All three of Fisher's runs came on sacrifice flies.
Malcolm Kelsey and Fahy led the Cardinals, both going 3-for-4.
Cody Wiktorski finished 2-for-4, while Flemister and Simmons both went 1-for-3. Allen finished 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored.
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