The St. John Fisher College baseball team scored 33 runs in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon at Utica College, completing a four-game sweep and pushing its current winning streak to 11 games. Fisher and the Pioneers first finished a delayed extra innings game that was stopped on April 1st at Dugan Yard due to inclement weather.
After Utica posted two runs to make the score 5-3 in the top of the 10th inning, the Cardinals rallied to score a run before Sean Osterman, known by his teammates as Oz, gave Fisher a thrilling finish, blasting a Grand Slam for the 8-5 victory.
In the nine-inning regularly scheduled game, the Cardinals bats came alive, driving in 25 runs in their 28-5 romping of the Pioneers. Osterman was at it again, adding to his four RBI in the 10th inning with six RBI in the eight innings he played in, for 10 RBI on the day.
On the day the Cardinals improved their record to 27-8 overall and 11-4 in the Empire 8 Conference, tying them with Ithaca College, who swept Stevens Institute of Technology this weekend.
Game One – Fisher 8, Utica 5 (10 Innings):
Nearly a month ago, Fisher and Utica met at the Cardinals' Dugan Yard for a nine-inning game that was halted after nine innings with the scored tied at 3s. After combining for just six runs in nine innings at Dugan Yard, the two teams combined for seven runs in the 10th inning of today's continuation of the April 1st outing.
Tim Sylvester started on the mound this afternoon for Fisher, continuing his already five innings pitched on April 1st. Sylvester gave up two earned runs in the 10th.
With Fisher trailing 5-3 and Utica having clear momentum, the Cardinals went to work, with Chris Roeder leading off with a single. Steve Karnyski then followed with a single of his own before Peter Krysztof did what he does best, bunting for a hit. Ben Bostick fouled out to the catcher for the first out of the inning but Roeder scored on a wild pitch, making the score 5-4 with runners on second and third.
Utica chose to walk the bases loaded in order to gain a force out at every base, putting Matt Klock intentionally on first. Sean Osterman, who has seen at-bats at the 3, 4 and 5-holes this season, came to the dish and drove a Grand Slam over the fence, giving Fisher the 8-5 win.
Sylvester was the pitcher of record at the time of the home run, earning him his fourth win of the year and third since last Sunday.
Sylvester threw a perfect inning against Ithaca and earned the victory last Sunday when the Cardinals walked-off with a 6-5 win. On Wednesday, Fisher traveled to The College at Brockport and Sylvester relieved Justin D'Amato in the third, throwing six and two-thirds innings to earn the 3-2 victory.
Game Two – Fisher 28, Utica 5:
Six Fisher batters finished with three or more hits in the contest, pounding out 28 hits total in the nine-inning game.
The Cardinals were led once again by Osterman, who was 5-for-6 and had game-highs with five runs scored and six RBI. Karnyski also led Fisher, going a perfect 4-for-4 with three RBI and crossing the plate three times.
Matthew Cahill also finished with four hits, driving in three runs and scoring twice. Klock, Roeder and Bostick each had three hits, with Bostick having three runs and three RBI.
Krysztof finished with two hits while David Locke, Brad Rush, Eric Luisi and Alexander Stacy had a hit apiece. Stacy had big shoes to fill, replacing Osterman in the ninth inning and answering the call with a RBI double.
All-in-all, 11 Cardinals' batters finished with a hit.
D'Amato earned the win, moving to 9-0 on the year, allowing just one earned run on six hits in five innings while striking out eight Pioneers. With his ninth win D'Amato has now matched his season total for victories in all of last season and tied the College's single-season record.
Adam Pettinella, Aidan Wiese and Teddy Ruff finished out the game for Fisher, only allowing two hits, no runs and fanning five combined, including three Ks for Pettinella in two innings.
Fisher returns to action at 4 p.m. on Wednesday when its hosts former Empire 8 Conference foe Rochester Institute of Technology.