Baseball made a case for a move up in the rankings this weekend, sweeping a three-game series versus the Bombers of Ithaca College on Friday and Saturday and downing RIT on Sunday.
Friday’s 9-2 victory saw the Red Hawks score using just about every way possible—runners were brought home by a home run, RBI singles, a sacrifice fly, a balk, catcher’s interference, an escaped rundown, and yes, even a steal that beat the pitch to the plate.
Starter David Hubbs pitched six and two-thirds solid innings for the win, giving up two runs on eight hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Ithaca starter Sazi Guthrie, tagged for the loss, lasted only two and two-thirds innings, giving up two runs in the second and five runs in the third before being replaced.
The wild bottom half of the third frame started out innocently enough when second baseman Flynn Cochran was retired on a ground ball to third. But when Travis Teeter stepped up next and hit the first pitch he saw down the right field line for a double, the floodgates opened. First baseman Dan Quinn absolutely crushed Guthrie’s third pitch to him, sending the poor baseball over the second fence in right field. (Past the right field wall at Robison Field is about a 20-foot incline up to a second, outer fence that separates the property from the residential areas next to it—a rough guess puts the distance of that fence at around 380 feet away and 20 feet up.) Quinn, in true major-league style, just stood in the box and watched the ball go before trotting around the diamond.
After Guthrie managed to strikeout Brian Marine, an error by Ithaca second baseman Kyle Wilkins allowed Scott Gianoni to reach; he advanced to third when left fielder Pat Hughes sent one deep into the left-center gap. Gianoni scored when Guthrie committed a balk and Hughes, now on third, was plated by Matt Faraone’s single. Faraone then stole second.
By now Ithaca’s bullpen was active, but Guthrie faced one last batter, shortstop Brendan Witherell. Witherell singled on an infield hit, but Faraone overran third and found himself caught in a rundown. He narrowly avoided a tag from one Ithaca player before colliding with Guthrie, who dropped the ball, allowing Faraone to score.
That was it for the Ithaca starter, who was replaced in favor of Dan Welch, who finished out the inning.
The first game of Saturday’s afternoon double-header proved to be a much tougher challenger than Friday’s blowout. Behind for most of the game, the Red Hawks showed endurance and gritty determination in notching a come-from-behind victory.
In the early innings, the game moved along sluggishly, with enough offense from both teams to make it seem like a contest between the Astros and Rockies at Coors Field in Colorado, not a college baseball game played at Robison Field—the teams had scored a combined 15 runs by the fourth inning.
After rallies by the Red Hawks in the sixth and seventh innings were killed by sloppy base running—runners were picked off to begin both innings—the team’s chances of pulling out a victory looked slim.
The Red Hawks surprised even the most dedicated fans, however, when they put together a stunning comeback by scoring three runs in the eighth inning and two runs in the ninth inning to win 14-12. Quinn, the UCAA’s Player of the Week, capped off the comeback victory by belting a walk-off, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth.
The third and final match between the Red Hawks and the Bombers got underway after a ceremony between games honoring RPI’s recently-announced All-Decade Team. A much more one-sided affair than the afternoon game, RPI easily dispatched Ithaca 8-1.
Teeter took the mound for the Red Hawks this time and went the distance in the shortened seven-inning game, improving his record to 2-1. It was not his best day on the hill, surrendering seven hits and five walks—including one hit batsman—but he stranded ten runners and allowed only the one run in the first inning.
He was helped out by solid defense all game, highlighted by a great diving catch by Faraone in the first inning, a strikeout-throwout double play in the third, and a well-executed relay by Faraone and Witherell to keep a run from scoring in the fourth.
Rensselaer got all the offense it needed in the bottom of the first, when Marine doubled home Cochran and Teeter. They scored again in the third when Quinn bounced into a 4-6-3 double play with the bases loaded that nonetheless allowed Egan to score from third. The Red Hawk offense added to their tally with a four-run fifth inning and scored once more in the sixth when Cochran came home on a passed ball.
In Sunday’s game, the Red Hawks again made their opponents, the Tigers from RIT, look overmatched. Aside from a three-run spurt by RIT in the sixth inning, the Red Hawk staff pitched well, scattering nine hits in a 10-4 victory.
The four wins over the weekend put RPI’s record at 13-6. Their next game is today at 3:30 pm at Robison Field, where they will host the Hartwick Hawks.
Editor’s Note: Staff writer Scott Robertson contributed to this article.
