ITHACA, NY – In the Liberty League conference opening doubleheader for both squads, the University of Rochester and Ithaca College baseball teams split a pair of 3-2 decisions on Friday afternoon at Ithaca's Freeman Field.
The split moves Rochester to 8-6 on the season, while Ithaca is now 9-7 after the action on Friday. Both teams are 1-1 in the conference.
UR hosts Ithaca on Sunday afternoon at 1 pm at Towers Field, completing the weekend series. Friday's contests were initially slated to be played on Saturday, but a poor weather forecast moved things up a day.
Game 1: Rochester 3, Ithaca 2
Rochester's Joseph Rende, Jackson Reed and Colton Avera combined on a 4-6-3 double play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, securing the one-run victory for the Yellowjackets, with Mark Aaronson recording his third save of the season.
Starting pitcher Nolan Sparks tossed seven shutout innings in picking up his second win of the season, surrendering just 5 hits and 1 walk while fanning 6 Bomber hitters. Out of the bullpen, Thomas Blaydes pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning for Rochester, but got into some trouble in the ninth, forcing a move to Aaronson for the save.
In the opening inning, Ithaca threatened against Sparks, getting two runners on with a hit batter and walk, but the UR junior right-hander escaped with no damage.
The next frame, the Yellowjackets had two runners on with nobody out after Reed singled and Aaron Whitley reached on a sacrifice bunt error, but starter Kyle Lambert pitched out of the jam, getting a groundout and two strikeouts.
Rochester struck for the opening run of the game in the fourth. Reed led off with a walk and Whitley reached on an infield single to second. A John Moses sacrifice bunt moved the pair into scoring position and Robert Constantine walked to load the bases. A passed ball allowed Reed to score, putting Rochester in front, but the other two runners were stranded at second and third.
After the first, Sparks got into a groove and sat down 10 of the next 11 hitters. In the fifth, a pair of one-out singles put runners at the corners, but a strikeout and fielders choice kept the Bombers off the scoreboard.
UR doubled the lead in the top of the sixth when Moses doubled to left center, plating Reed who reached on a single to right.
In the seventh, Rochester moved in front 3-0 with a pair of two-out hits from Colby Cruser and Avera. Cruser doubled down the right field line, with Avera driving him in with a single to left field.
During the Ithaca half of the ninth, a hit batter and walk chased Blaydes from the mound. Aaronson walked his first batter to load the bases, putting the tying run on base.
The sophomore righty got a big first out, striking out Connor Pedersen on three straight pitches, but saw Mike Nauta follow with a line drive base hit to right, scoring two runs. Another walk again loaded the bases, but the UR infield turned the double-play on a Louis Fabbo grounder to end the game, preserving the one-run win.
Reed led UR at the plate with a 2-for-3 game with a walk and pair of runs. Rende also went 2-for-5 while Moses provided a 1-for-2 day with a double, RBI and two sacrifice hits.
Lambert (2-1) took the loss for the Bombers, tossing 6 innings with 5 hits and 2 runs (1 earned) allowed along with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts.
Game 2: Ithaca 3, Rochester 2
After a 2-0 lead through one inning, the host Bombers were able to scrape single runs together in the second, fifth and sixth innings to earn the narrow one run victory over Rochester.
Ethan Rothstein provided the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the sixth off of reliever Magnus Sivertson (1-1), scoring pinch-runner Colin Dunn.
The Yellowjackets jumped on Ithaca's Colin Leyner out of the gate, with a pair of runs in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Josh Leadem laced a double to left and moved up when Rende singled to right.
Cruser grounded out to second, scoring Leadem and moving Rende to second. After an infield single from Reed to put runners at the corners, Rende was driven in on a sacrifice fly by Whitley.
In the bottom of the inning, UR starter Trevor Van Allen issued a leadoff walk, but promptly erased that runner with a double play grounder. Van Allen was limited to just two innings of work, surrendering two hits and a run, walking three and striking out two.
Ithaca halved the lead in the second, getting an RBI single from Ethan Daddabbo, but Van Allen struck out Riley Brawdy looking to strand the bases loaded.
Rochester had two hits, a Whitley single and Avera double in the fourth, but were unable to build on its lead.
The Bombers tied the game up in the fifth with a single tally against reliever Sammy Rosenfield. A 1-out error allowed Nauta to reach and after Louis Fabbo singled to center, runners were on the corners with two outs. Garrett Callaghan singled through the right side, scoring the unearned run, drawing the game at 2-2.
Leyner (1-2) kept rolling on the mound for the Bombers, recording 1-2-3 innings in the fifth and sixth. The hurler finished with a 7-inning complete game, allowing six hits, two runs and no walks while striking out one.
Ithaca edged in front in the bottom of the sixth with Rothstein's single driving in Dunn who pinch-ran for Ryan Laubscher. Laubscher led off the inning with a double to center, leading to the go-ahead run.
In their final at-bat, the Yellowjackets got a runner on when Avera provided a 1-out single to left, but Leyner finished off the victory with a fly out and pop out, stranding the tying run on base.
Avera finished with two of Rochester's six hits, going 2-for-3, including recording his team leading ninth double of the season. Ithaca's Laubscher was the only other player to record multiple hits in game two, going 2-for-3.