HENRIETTA, NY – Behind a stellar outing from Nolan Sparks, the University of Rochester baseball team defeated the RIT Tigers, 7-4, in the opening game of their three-game conference series on Friday afternoon at the RIT Baseball Complex. The 'Jackets and Tigers will wrap up the three-game series on Sunday with a doubleheader at Towers Field beginning at 12:00 p.m.
 
Rochester got on the board quickly against the Tigers, loading the bases in the top of the first against Tigers' starter Alex Slotter with just one out on a single, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Slotter struck out the next batter to put two outs on the board, but Dylan Stezzi gave the Yellowjackets a 2-0 advantage with a two-run single to right. Stezzi and Alec Ellison then perfectly executed a double steal, two of five stolen bases on the day for UR, to make it a 3-0 Rochester lead.
 
The Tigers would answer though in the bottom of the frame, taking advantage of a UR fielding error to push two runs across. Sparks struck out his first batter of the game with one on and one out following the error, but the Tigers stung together back-to-back hits, and after a wild pitch moved both Adam Marsh and Trent Rapp into scoring position, Kyle Poorman tripled to right center to bring both home and cut Rochester's lead to just 3-2.
 
The Yellowjackets would get one back in the top of the second on Josh Leadem's sacrifice fly, scoring Luke Blozy after a leadoff hit-by-pitch and Jackson Reed's single to stretch their lead out to two, 4-2.
 
From there, Sparks settled in, working around a pair of baserunners in the bottom of the second, before striking out two in a 1-2-3 third and fourth.
 
Up 4-2, Rochester threatened again in the top of the fifth, with Colby Cruser leading off with a single, taking second on Ellison's sacrifice and third on Luke Gregory's single to center, but Slotter retired the next two batters to keep UR's lead at just two.
 
Sparks added two more strikeouts in the fifth and another in the sixth, setting down 16 in a row before John Bagley's two-out triple in the bottom of the seventh. Sparks retired the next batter though, getting Sam Kulp to ground out, and the Yellowjackets would add to their lead in the top of the eighth.
 
After Stezzi drew a leadoff walk, both Sam Besztery and Quincy Jaksch reached on errors on their sacrifice bunt attempts, bringing both Stezzi and Besztery home to score to make it a 6-2 lead. Stezzi came all the way around to score on Besztery's sacrifice, while Besztery moved to third as Eric Sipling's throw sailed wide of the mark. While Besztery scored on Jaksch's bunt attempt to give Rochester a four-run lead.
 
Jaksch then moved to second on Blozy's sacrifice, and after Leadem drew a walk and the Tigers made a pitching change, the 'Jackets scored another run on yet another RIT error, one of four on the day for the Tigers, as Jaksch scored on a failed pickoff attempt to extend Rochester's lead to 7-2.
 
And while Sparks tallied four strikeouts in the bottom of the inning, the Tigers would get on back, scoring on a passed ball to pull back within four. Randy Dodig and Marsh led off the inning with a single and a double, putting two on with nobody out. A passed ball brought home a run, but Sparks struck out the next four batters, one of which reached on an errant throw by the catcher, to prevent any more damage.
 
With the 'Jackets in front, 7-3, Magnus Sivertson relieved Sparks to start the bottom of the ninth, but a pair of singles and a wild pitch brought home a run and pulled the Tigers within three with just one out.
 
Sivertson struck out Dodig to put another out on the board, and UR then went to Thomas Blaydes to finish things off, with the senior getting Marsh to ground out to strand a runner and give Rochester a 7-4 victory.
 
Sparks (3-2) earned the win, allowing three unearned runs on six hits, walking one and striking out a career-high 15 over 8.0 innings pitched. Sparks' 15 Ks are also tied for the second-most in a single game in program history and are the most for a Rochester pitcher in a single game since 1980.
 
Blaydes (2) earned the save, pitching just a third of an inning, while Sivertson allowed one run on two hits, striking out a pair.
 
For RIT, Slotter (4-4) took the loss, allowing four runs on seven hits over 5.1 innings pitched, walking two and striking out four.
 
At the plate, Stezzi went 1-for-4 with a stolen base, walk, run scored and two RBI, while Cruser went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
 
In total, Rochester tallied seven runs on seven hits, stole five bases, walked four times and drew two hit-by-pitches.
 
Rochester will celebrate Senior Day when it wraps up its Liberty League series against the Tigers on Sunday, April 28 beginning at 12:00 p.m. at Towers Field.