TROY, NY – The University of Rochester baseball team was outlasted in a marathon 13 innings in the Liberty League Championships winners bracket matchup, falling 3-2 to second-seeded Ithaca College on Friday afternoon at Robison Field at Karl Steffen Ballpark.
 
Rochester (20-18) now plays third-seed Union College in an elimination game on Friday for the right to get to square off against Ithaca in the championship round on Saturday.
 
Ithaca (30-9) got a pair of doubles, one from Tyler Pugliese and another from Ethan Rothstein to score its second straight walk-off win of the competition. The Bombers scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth on Thursday, to upend Union 8-7 during the opening round.
 
Rothstein, finished with a monster game, going 5-for-6 with a run scored and the game-winning RBI double. Pugliese finished 3-for-5 with an RBI and two doubles.
 
Both teams got terrific efforts from their pitching staffs in the game, which was Rochester's longest since a 13-inning affair against Union in the Liberty League Tournament back in May, 2018.
 
Rochester was limited to just six hits in the contest, with Sammy Besztery and Colby Cruser each finishing with two hits. Dylan Stezzi and Jackson Reed also reached safely via base hit in the game.
 
On the mound, Rochester starter Mark Aaronson was terrific, tossing five innings while allowing just three hits and one walk, striking out two. Relief pitchers Matt Casiero and Justin Grossman were each charged with a run before Cruser moved from DH to the mound.
 
Cruser was stellar as well, striking out eight batters over 4.2 scoreless innings. Josh Leadem took the ball after moving in from right field and finished off the game for Rochester.
 
For Ithaca, starter Jack Picozzi yielded just three hits and two runs over his seven innings. He struck out eight and battled some control issues just in the third inning, allowing the Yellowjackets to take the early lead.
 
In the third, Henry Jamieson drew a leadoff walk. After a sacrifice bunt, Reed walked and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Another walk, this time to Cruser, loaded the bases before Alec Ellison picked up a tough RBI, getting hit by a pitch. Stezzi followed with yet another walk, to bring in Reed and put Rochester up 2-0.
 
After Aaronson was removed for Casiero to start the sixth, Ithaca scraped its first run across with two outs. A hit batter and single up the middle, put runners on first and second. Pugliese followed with an RBI double but the trailing runner was gunned down at home on a strong relay from Stezzi, to Reed, to catcher Matt Rieth, keeping the Yellowjackets in front.
 
The Yellowjackets bats went down 1-2-3 in the next inning and the Bombers were able to tie it up in their half of the seventh.
 
Grossman relieved and yielded a single and walk to put the tying and go-ahead runners on base. Rochester switched to Cruser on the mound and after a strikeout to start his outing, the junior left-hander gave up a double to right to Colin Feeney, tying the score.
 
The next hitter grounded to second with the infield in, and Rochester's Reed and Rieth connected on another play at the plate, keeping the game knotted at two. Cruser struck out the ensuing batter to end the inning, stranding a pair of runners on base.
 
Stezzi legged out an infield single in the eighth against Ithaca relief pitcher John Griffin. After stealing second to get in scoring position, he moved up to third on a ground out. Griffin was able escape the jam without yielding a run after getting another ground out.
 
Two runners reached against Cruser in the Ithaca half of the inning, but a 2-out fly out to right kept the game tied.
 
Cruser and Griffin went back-and-forth with 1-2-3 innings in the ninth and tenth, with Cruser striking out the side for the Yellowjackets in the first extra inning.
 
The Yellowjackets had a golden opportunity to break through in the 13th inning, getting the bases loaded on a Cruser single and pair of walks, but Griffin again wiggled out of the tight spot, getting Robert Constantine to fly out to deep right field, stranding three on base.
 
Two batters later, Ithaca walked off the win.
 
Griffin picked up the win for the Bombers, moving to 5-0 on the year after tossing 6 shutout innings out of the bullpen. He gave up 3 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 6.