The weather was not kind to the RPI baseball team during the past week. A game against Western New England College was cancelled because of rain and a doubleheader against RIT was cancelled due to threat of rain.
The Red Hawks were able to get in a doubleheader against the 18th-ranked Ithaca Bombers on Saturday. Ithaca edged out Rensselaer in the first game 3-2 in eight innings and won the second game 13-0.
RPI had a 2-1 lead going into the seventh inning, but Ithaca scored a run to send the game to extra innings. The Bombers scored another run in the eighth inning and held the Red Hawks scoreless in that ending to end the game. Chris Sullivan pitched six innings for RPI, allowing only one earned run.
The home plate umpire ejected Flynn Cochran in the bottom of the eighth inning after a minor confrontation. Although there did not appear to be any threat of violence, the umpire used the “fight” rule to exclude Cochran from the second game.
Athletic Director Ken Ralph spoke to the umpires between games. After the game, he commented, “While it is always disappointing when one of our athletes is removed from a game for his actions, I fully support Flynn Cochran as a player and as a person. Flynn plays with a lot of passion and his emotions can occasionally get the better of him. I am not convinced that the application of the rule for game number two by the umpires was correct and it cost RPI the use of one of its best players and best competitors.”
RPI rebounded yesterday against the Castleton St. Spartans winning 17-4 and 10-5. The wind proved to be a problem for the Spartans, who dropped and missed fly balls all day.
In the first game, RPI took an early 5-0 lead and never looked back.
Cochran and Mike Passante both had four hits, contributing to RPI’s 20 hits in the game. Cochran also had three RBI and scored four runs, including a home run in the fourth inning. Joe Ihnatoyla homered in the second, scoring three runs.
Brian Brzek pitched five innings to earn the win, allowing three runs on four hits. Max Miller pitched two innings of relief allowing one run on two hits.
RPI continued to roll in the second game, winning 10-5.
Dan Quinn and Colin Adalian led RPI in offense in the second game. Quinn went 4-for-4 with four singles, an RBI and one run scored. Adalian had a grand slam home run in the fifth inning to seal the win for RPI.
Luke Calzone got the win for Rensselaer and Brian Rickert earned the save, allowing one run in three innings.
RPI’s record goes to 11-8 with yesterday’s wins. The Red Hawks face their first two UCAA foes, Skidmore and Union, in doubleheaders this weekend. RPI will host Skidmore Friday at 1 pm and Union Saturday at 12 pm. Thirteenth-ranked SUNY Cortland will be in town Sunday at 1 pm.
