AUBURNDALE, Fla. — The Keuka College Baseball team lost to Knox College 8-7 to begin their annual southern spring break trip to Florida.

Carlos Fantauzzi (Canandaigua, N.Y. / Canandaigua Academy) and RJ Murphy (Syracuse, N.Y. / West Genesee) each had two hits and two runs batted in for Keuka College (0-6). Jesse Capitano (Depew, N.Y. / Depew) threw well for the Wolves, striking out six over six innings. The junior allowed just three runs on four hits on the mound.

Knox College 8 vs. Keuka College 7

The Wolves jumped all over the Prarie Fire in the first inning. Kyle Wood (Newark, N.Y. / Newark) led off with a double. Following a walk, Carlos Fantauzzi tripled to score two and RJ Murphy followed with a triple of his own to make it 3-0. Murphy scored on an RBI single by Shane Daley (Elma, N.Y. / Iroquois). Mike Dutch (Manlius, N.Y. / Fayetteville-Manlius) drove in a run on a sacrifice fly to make it 5-0. Sam O'Neil (Macedon, N.Y. / Ruben A. Cirillo) capped off the scoring for the Wolves with an RBI double as Keuka led 6-0 after one.

However, the Wolves would then be held to just three hits and no runs until the ninth inning. During that stretch, Knox scored three against Capitano in his six innings of work and then struck for three more to tie the game once Capitano left the game to start the seventh.

The Wolves threatened in the seventh, loading the bases, but were unable to convert. Knox did the same in the eighth, but Ethan Tillotson (Pavilion, N.Y. / Pavilion) got a groundball double play to escape the inning.

Knox scored two runs in the top of the ninth to take an 8-6 lead. Carlos Fantauzzi doubled in the bottom and scored on a groundout, but Keuka would be held there as Knox defeated the Wolves 8-7.

KC Notes:

• Knox even the all-time series at 1-1 after Keuka won the first meeting in 2022
• The Green and Gold are now 1-2 all-time on St. Patrick's Day
• It was the second straight game that Keuka had a pair of triples in the game and was their fourth-straight game with a triple. The Wolves have eight triples in their six games. They lead the Empire 8 in triples and rank second in the NCAA in triples per game
• Kyle Wood and Shane Daley joined Fantauzzi and Murphy with a two-hit game

Up Next for Keuka College: The Green and Gold are back in action in Florida on Monday afternoon as Keuka College faces SUNY Poly in a doubleheader. The Wildcats defeated the Wolves 9-8 in extra innings in their first meeting a week ago.