AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Keuka College Baseball team opened their 2017 season on their annual spring trip to Florida. The Wolves lost on Thursday in their first games of the season to St. Olaf College from Minnesota.

Dave Nuzzo (Manlius, N.Y. / Fayetteville Manlius) had a strong start to his senior season with four total hits and six RBIs in the doubleheader. Nuzzo had a double in the first game and a home run in the second. Dakota Skinner (Waverly, N.Y. / Tioga) also had four hits on the afternoon. Jake Redding (Victor, N.Y. / Victor) and Dan Bamann (Rochester, N.Y. / Irondequoit) each added three for the Wolves. Bryan Johnsen (Otisville, N.Y. / Minisink Valley) got the start in Game 1 for Keuka. The junior struck out eight while pitching into the fifth.

Keuka College 6 vs. St. Olaf College 9 – 10 innings

Keuka College opened the season with a bang. In the first inning, the Wolves plated five runs on six hits for the early lead. The Oles chipped away at the lead with a pair of runs in the fifth. St. Olaf's big inning came in the fifth as they scored four runs to take a 6-5 lead. Rob LaRue (Skillman, N.J. / Montgomery) singled in a run in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game for Keuka College. The game would remain tied into extra innings. St. Olaf scored three runs in the top of the 10th inning and they would hold the Wolves bats at bay as St. Olaf defeated Keuka College 9-6 in Game 1.

Lead Wolf: Dave Nuzzo, Dakota Skinner, and Rob LaRue each had a pair of hits in the game for Keuka College. Nuzzo had the big hit in the first inning, a two-run single, and later added a double for the Wolves.

Keuka College 7 vs. St. Olaf College 9

Once again, Keuka College got out to an early lead. The Wolves scored a pair of runs in the first inning on RBI singles by Bamann and Nuzzo. However the Oles had a response in the bottom of the frame. St. Olaf scored six runs to take an early grasp on the game. They added runs in the third and fourth to lead 8-2. Keuka College fought back. A single, a walk, an RBI single, and an RBI single made the score 8-4 and caused St. Olaf to change pitchers. The first batter the reliever faces was Dave Nuzzo and he belted a three-run home run for the Wolves to draw the game within one, 8-7. St. Olaf added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning. Keuka was able to bring the tying run to the plate in both the sixth and seventh but they were unable to get the big hit as they fell to St. Olaf 9-7.

Lead Wolf: The top of the order led the way for Keuka College. Batters 1-4 in the order went a combined 9-14 with all seven RBIs and six runs scored. Redding had three hits for Keuka and Skinner, Bamann, and Nuzzo had two each. Nuzzo had the big home run and drove in a total of four runs for Keuka.

KC Notes:

• St. Olaf improves to 4-0 all-time against Keuka College
• The Wolves are 3-14 in season openers since 2001
• The 10 inning game is tied for third longest in school history
• Since 2005, Keuka College is 11-10-1 in extra inning games
• The loss in 10 innings snapped a three game unbeaten streak
• Dave Nuzzo set a new career-high with four RBIs in a game
• The home run was the first of Nuzzo's career

Coming up for Keuka College: The spring trip for Keuka College continues on Friday with a pair of games against Bowdoin College.