SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Ithaca College baseball team will play for its second straight Liberty League title tomorrow as the Bombers defeated RIT, 12-4, on Friday afternoon at Castle Diamond. Ithaca is now 27-14 on the season and will face the winner of RIT and Rochester on Saturday. IC will need just one victory to earn its second consecutive automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. First pitch is slated for 12 p.m.

The Bombers produced 17 hits on the day and stole seven bases as all nine batters recorded at least one hit in the win.

RIT scored the game's first run on a sacrifice fly to centerfield. The Tigers threatened quickly with a lead-off single, followed by an error and hit by pitch to load the bases with no outs, but Colin Leyner escaped the early jam by retiring the next three hitters on a strikeout, sac fly and groundout.

Leyner would settle in after the shaky first inning and tossed 8.0 innings with four strikeouts and two runs allowed (one earned) on eight hits. Leyner is now 7-4 on the season.

The Bombers put a runner in scoring position in the top of the second as Colin Shashaty led off with a single and moved over to third after two outs were recorded, but he could not score as a pop out ended the inning.

Ithaca took a 3-1 lead in the top of the third inning as Matt Fabian delivered a two-out single to right-center that brought in Ethan Rothstein and Garrett Callaghan and then Shashaty drove home Fabian with a base hit to right and Fabian scored after the RIT defense failed to throw the ball back into the infield. IC put pressure on RIT the entire at bat as the Bombers stole three bases – Rothstein, Callaghan and Shashaty – to consistently place runners in scoring position.

The Bombers extended their lead to 5-1 in the top of the fifth inning as Callaghan earned an RBI single, which brought in Feeney, and Callaghan advanced on the throw home. Callaghan then stole third and Fabian followed with a ringing double to left-center to give the Bombers a four-run lead.

Another run crossed the plate in the sixth for the Bombers as Rothstein ripped an RBI single to left field and Riley Brawdy came home from second base.

RIT finally ended IC's six-run stretch by scoring in the bottom of the sixth, but the Bombers got that run back in the top of the eighth as Feeney singled to right and the ball got away from the fielder to allow Rothstein to score, making it 7-2.

IC continued to push runs across the plate in the eighth inning as Fabian sent an RBI double to left-center for his fourth RBI and second extra base hit of the day. He finished the day 3-for-5. Louis Fabbo scored on the play and then Mike Nauta beat out an infield single with two outs and Callaghan scored to extend the lead to 9-2.

Ithaca put the game out of reach in the top of the ninth inning as Callaghan emphatically sent the Bombers to the championship round with a three-run home run to right field with Feeney and Fabbo on base to give IC a 10-run lead at 12-2. Callaghan went 3-for-4 in the game with four RBI and four runs scored.

RIT plated two runs in the bottom of the ninth off Erislandy Rives on a base hit and sac fly to account for the 12-4 final score.