ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College baseball team squared off against SUNY Canton in the first home game of the season and came away with a 10-1 victory on Friday, March 29 at Freeman Field. The Bombers bounced back in a big way after losing at Stevens on Wednesday and are now 9-4 overall and 4-1 in Empire 8 play.
Highlighting Friday's victory was the first no-hitter thrown at IC since April 24, 1999, which was accomplished by Justin McEnroe against St. Lawrence. This time around, senior Jake Binder tossed seven innings for his third win of the season, while junior Charlie Hammel finished off the no-hitter in two innings pitched to spin the 10th no-hitter in school history.
It also marked the first combined no-hitter tossed by the Bombers since April 19, 1993 against RIT, which was a seven-inning game. Kevin Farrell, Chris Dedrick and Mike Saccomano threw that no-hitter.
Ithaca jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the first inning. Senior Garrett Snyder led off with a double in the right-center gap, followed by a single up the middle from senior Webb Little to drive in Snyder. After a walk to senior Adam Gallagher and an infield single by sophomore Garrett Callaghan, that scored Little, senior Cam Fuoti roped a two-run double in the left-center gap, scoring both Gallagher and Callaghan.
In the bottom of the third, Callaghan led off the inning with a walk, followed by a base hit through the left side of the infield from Fuoti. A sacrifice fly by junior Buzz Shirley scored Callaghan, giving the Bombers a 5-0 lead heading into the fourth inning.
With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, W. Little demolished a home run to right-center, putting the Bombers up 6-0. Two innings later, senior Matt Carey crushed a line drive home run to left field, extending the Bombers lead to 7-0.
Canton led off the eighth with a hit by pitch and a pair of wild pitches to move the runner to third base. The Kangaroos the got on the board with a fielder's choice.
Snyder led off the home half of the eighth with a solo shot to left field, the Bombers' third homer of the day. A walk from W. Little, single from S. Little and walk from Callaghan loaded the bases with one out. Fuoti added a sacrifice fly, scoring W. Little, and then S. Little would score on a wild pitch, extending the lead to 10-1 heading into the last inning.
Binder went seven innings for the Bombers, striking out seven 'Roos. Hammel threw the final two innings, allowing one run on no hits with a strikeout.
W. Little went 3-for-4 in the game with three runs scored, two RBI and a double, to go along with his round tripper. Snyder, Callaghan and Fuoti each recorded two hits in the win.
Ithaca is scheduled to play at home tomorrow, Saturday, March 30th for a doubleheader against Canton beginning at 12 p.m.