PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – University of Rochester baseball went up early and held on late to defeat the St. John Fisher Cardinals, 17-12, in a game that featured 14 pitchers, 20 walks, 26 hits and 408 total pitches on Sunday evening at Towers Field.
 
After Matt Bradley worked a 1-2-3 top of the first, one of just two 1-2-3 innings in the contest, Rochester would get on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the inning. Sammy Besztery grounded a one-out double down the left field line, and after taking third on Josh Leadem's groundout, the sophomore scored on a wild pitch to give UR a 1-0 lead.
 
Fisher would answer back in the top of the second, as Jack Griffin led off the inning with a ground-rule double to right, and Matthew Arnold followed with an RBI single right back up the middle to even the score at 1-1.
 
UR quickly retook the lead in the bottom of the second on Tristan Datta's solo homer to center, the first of his career, to make it a 2-1 ballgame.
 
Again though, the Cardinals responded, with Ryan Vanderlip smacking a leadoff double down the left-field line to lead off the top of the third. Vanderlip advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on Mario Cubello's infield single, but Bradley struck out the side to keep the score tied at two.
 
Taking advantage of six walks in the inning, the Yellowjackets came right back to put up a seven-spot in the bottom of the third, turning a 2-2 tie into a 9-2 lead. Benjamin Garber and Ethan Jaquette drew back-to-back walks to lead off the bottom of the third before a fielder's choice and error allowed Garber to come around to score.
 
Another walk loaded the bases for Alexander Gonzalo, who brought home two with a single down the left-field line, forcing the Cardinals to make their first of eight calls to the bullpen. Conner Walker relieved Benjamin Huckans, but the 'Jackets would keep on scoring. Sammy Smith drew another walk to load the bases, and after a wild pitch brought Leadem into score, another walk re-loaded the bases for Jack Corcoran.
 
Corcoran grounded out to short to bring another run home, and a batter later, Garber, who started the inning with a five-pitch walk, blooped a two-run double to right to make it 9-2.
 
After another pitching change, the Cardinals finally got out of the inning, despite Rochester again loading the bases, sending the two sides to the fourth.
 
Thomas Blaydes relieved Bradley to start the fourth and worked around a pair of singles, stranding two Cardinals, while Ryan Fitzpatrick got Smith to ground into a double play to keep UR off the scoreboard in the bottom of the frame.
 
St. John Fisher got a run back in both the fifth and sixth on Arnold's RBI single in the fifth and a fielding error in the sixth to cut UR's lead to 9-4, but the Yellowjackets would take their largest lead of the night with a four-run bottom of the sixth.
 
After Besztery reached on an error, took second on Leadem's sacrifice and third on a wild pitch, Gonzalo walked to put runners at the corners for Smith, who perfectly executed a squeeze bunt to score Besztery and extend Rochester's lead to 10-4.
 
Another wild pitch, one of five in the contest for Cardinals' pitchers, made it 11-4, while two batters later, Matt Rieth knocked in Smith with an RBI single to push UR's advantage to 12-4. After a walk brought on another call to the bullpen for Fisher, the 'Jackets would tack on one more on a defensive miscue, extending their lead to 13-4 after six.
 
The Cardinals though, wouldn't go away quietly. St. John Fisher answered back with eight runs over the next two frames to pull within a run, putting both the game-tying and go-ahead run on base.
 
A pinch-hit, three-run double by Noah Pohrte in the top of the seventh cut Rochester's lead to 13-7, while the Cardinals would blast a pair of home runs in the top of the eighth to make it a 13-11 ballgame.
 
Cubello led off the top of the eight with a solo shot, and after Theo Beckley relieved Jack Subramanian, Jake Crantz took Beckley's 1-0 pitch deep to center for a three-run home, cutting Rochester's lead to just two.
 
Beckley struck out the next batter, but a single and a walk forced Rochester to make another pitching change, and while Jake Del Vecchio got a ground ball to potentially end the inning, a fielding error allowed the Cardinals to score another run and pull within one, 13-12.
 
A walk then loaded the bases with St. John Fisher within a run, but Del Vecchio struck out Jordan Perry looking to end the threat and keep Rochester up by a run.
 
Rochester then chased yet another Fisher relieved, drawing a pair of walks to start the bottom of the eighth, before scoring four insurance runs to take a 17-12 lead. Tanner Frank relieved Jeffrey Kraus, but an error on Jaquette's sacrifice bunt brought home Jake Goldberg, who pinch-ran for Rieth, to make it 14-12, and Besztery followed with an RBI single to score another, extending the lead to 15-12.
 
Leadem's sacrifice fly to center brought home another run to make it 16-12, while Gonzalo's ground-rule double put Rochester up 17-12.
 
Del Vecchio then closed things out in the top of the ninth, working around a two-out walk to strike Sleurs out to close out the victory and notch his first save of the year.
 
Bradley (1-0) earned the win, allowing two runs on four hits, striking out five over 3.0 innings pitched, while Heckans (0-1) took the loss, allowing seven runs, six earned, on three hits, walking two and striking out three over 2.0 innings pitched.
 
Gonzalo went 3-for-5 with a double, walk, two runs scored and a team-high three RBI, while Besztery went 3-for-5 with a double, four runs scored and an RBI.
 
Garber drew a team-high four walks, going 1-for-1 with a double, four walks, two runs scored and two RBI, as all but one Yellowjacket who started the contest drew a walk, with UR combining for 14, tied for the second-most in a single game in program history.
 
The Yellowjackets will continue their homestand on Wednesday, March 19 with a matchup against Alfred State College at Towers Field at 4:00 p.m.