PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – The University of Rochester baseball bats broke out of an early season slump in a 10-5 victory over Elmira College on Thursday evening at Towers Field.
Rochester's 10 runs in the home opener nearly doubled the output of the first six games combined (13 runs) of the season, as the Yellowjackets (2-5) pounded out 13 hits in the victory. Elmira drops to 2-5 with the loss.
Kyle Trombley led UR with a 3-4 day, with a run scored and stolen base. Aiden Finch was 2-3 with a solo home run and 3 runs scored, while Jack Herman also had two hits, two runs and a solo blast. First-year Harper Sy went 2-5 in his Towers Field debut adding three RBI.
Jack Denzer got the victory on the mound for the Yellowjackets, going six innings, giving up eight hits and three runs while striking out four. Hank Powers pitched two innings of relief and Herman came in to get the final three outs.
Mason Ryan put the visiting Soaring Eagles on the board first with an RBI single in the top of the second.
The lead didn't last long though, as Rochester answered with a four-run bottom of the inning to grab a lead they would never relinquish the rest of the night. Finch's home run tied it on the first pitch he saw off EC starter Angus Adams. Sy got his first RBI of the night on a fielders choice and two unearned runs scampered home followed a trio of Elmira errors.
Sy boosted the Yellowjacket lead to 6-1 with a big two-out, two-RBI single to left in the third inning.
In the fifth, Finch scored on a wild pitch and Drew Bankovich tripled in Trombley for two more runs, giving Rochester an 8-1 advantage.
Elmira got two back in the top of the sixth though, coming on a Harrison Zambarano home to left and a James Delaney sacrifice fly.
Jake Hertz singled up the middle, getting one of those runs back in the seventh, but the lead was trimmed to 9-5 in the eighth after two more Elmira runs crossed home plate.
Herman's solo shot onto Wilson Boulevard proved to be the final run of the game, making the final score 10-5.
Elmira's Zambarano went 3-4 with a double, home run and two runs scored while Tommy Fogarty went 2-3 at the plate for the Soaring Eagles. On the mound, Adams allowed six runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings. Garinder Sarana completed the game for Elmira and struck out four in 3.2 innings of work.
The same teams meet on Friday afternoon for a doubleheader starting at noon.