The Hamilton College baseball team split a non-league doubleheader at SUNY Institute of Technology Saturday, losing the opener 6-5 and bouncing back for an 8-0 win in game two. The victory in the nightcap snapped a five-game losing streak for the Continentals (10-16), who had played just one game outside of league play in the previous 40 days.


Finlay O'Hara '17 threw a complete-game two-hit shutout in game two, striking out four Wildcats and retiring the last 13 batters.

O'Hara (1-1), who was making his first collegiate start, became the first Continental to throw a complete-game shutout since Alex Augustyn, who blanked SUNY Cobleskill 7-0 on March 28, 2010. He faced one batter over the minimum, allowing a second-inning double to Gerard Milanes '15 – who he picked off – and a two-out single to Nicholas Giunta '17 in the third.

Tyler Reinhold '15 led Hamilton's offense with two hits and two runs batted in. Joe Jensen '15, Tim Burke '16 and Chris Collins '17 each contributed two hits to the Continentals' 12-hit attack.

Reinhold's two-run single sparked Hamilton's four-run second. Burke and Andrew Haser '17 hit back-to-back one-out doubles to put the Continentals on the board. After Chris Collins and Zack Becker '16 singled to load the bases, Reinhold followed with a single to left before Becker came around to score on a wild pitch.

The Continentals added three runs with a two-out rally in the sixth. After Steve LaRochelle '14 was hit by a pitch and Kenny Collins '17 singled, Robert Morris '17 doubled home a pair of runs. Burke added an RBI single and an inning later Jensen closed out the scoring, singling home Becker.

In the opener the Wildcats (16-17) jumped out to a 4-0 first-inning lead and held on as the Continentals put the tying run on base in each of the last two innings.

Hamilton pulled to within 4-3 on a run-scoring single by Mike Chiseri '16 in the fourth then, after SUNY IT tacked on two runs in the bottom of the fourth, closed to within a run with a two-run rally in the fifth.  LaRochelle led off the fifth with a double to center. He scored on a triple by Burke, who came home on a wild pitch.

Jackson Kushner '17 singled with one out in the top of sixth and one out later pinch-runner Nick Taylor '15 stole second before Tyler Vyce '17 retired Hamilton's clean-up hitter to end the threat. The Continentals' last chance at the tying run came on Burke's two-out single in the fifth but Ryan Dungey '14 picked up the last out for his third save of the season.

Burke finished with three hits and scored three runs. Jensen, who singled in a run in the second, and Brett Mele '17 both had two hits.

Milanes, who had two of SUNY IT's nine hits, singled home a pair of runs in the Wildcats' four-run fourth. Kevin Rowlands '14 singled in a run and Connor Passalacqua '16 drew a bases-loaded walk as the first six Wildcats reached base.

Passalacqua drove in a run with a fifth-inning squeeze bunt and Jim Sass '14 scored on an infield grounder to close out SUNY IT's scoring.

Both teams are scheduled to host SUNY Canton Sunday. The Kangaroos play at SUNY IT at noon and are slated to play a 4 p.m. game at Hamilton's Royce Field.