GENEVA, NY – Senior
Sammy Rosenfield and two other Yellowjacket pitchers combined to hold host Hobart College to just two hits in a 6-2 victory for the University of Rochester baseball team on Thursday evening at McDonough Park.
Rosenfield allowed just one hit in his 6-inning outing, striking out a career-high 10, picking up the victory for the Yellowjackets who got off to a quick start, scoring five runs over the first three innings.
Finishing off the game on the mound were
Thomas Blaydes and
Colby Cruser, who added two more strikeouts apiece in the strong pitching performance.
Offensively, UR started out with three runs in the first inning, capitalizing on a pair of Hobart errors. After
Jackson Reed led off reaching on an error, Cruser doubled down the right field line and
Josh Leadem added an RBI single to put UR on the board.
With runners at the corners, the 'Jackets executed a double steal, with Leadem taking second and Cruser stealing home. After Leadem moved to third on a Statesmen error on the play,
Alexander Gonzalo made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly to center.
In the bottom of the first, Rosenfield plunked the leadoff batter, but quickly erased that runner on a 4-6-3 double-play. He later struck out the first of his ten batters to put up a zero in the Hobart half of the first.
The Yellowjackets added to the lead in the second on a Reed single to center, plating
Sammy Smith.
Hobart again had traffic on in the second, with Rosenfield issuing three walks, but he ended up striking out the side, stranding the bases loaded.
UR made it three straight innings with a run in the third, with Gonzalo ripping a single up the middle to score
Ethan Jaquette, who reached via double.
Rosenfield had his first clean inning of the game in the third, kickstarting a run of sitting down 11 straight batters. The seniors run included striking out the side again in the bottom of the fourth.
Rochester made it 6-0 in the sixth with back-to-back two out hits from
Luke Blozy and Reed.
Hobart finally recorded its first hit of the game in the sixth, but another big strikeout from UR's right-hander ended the inning, stranding two more Statesmen runners on base.
The lead remained six until the bottom of the eighth when the Statesmen pushed across a pair of runs on just one hit. A leadoff hit batter put a runner on, and after two outs, a walk and pair of wild pitches broke the shutout. Will Jones then singled to left, making the score 6-2.
Cruser took over in the ninth for the Yellowjackets and set down the Statesmen in order to secure the win for the Yellowjackets, their seventh in the last eight games.
UR moves to 8-7 on the year overall and is 3-1 in Liberty League play. Hobart drops to 11-5 on the season and is now 2-2 in the conference.
The same two teams meet in the series-ending doubleheader tomorrow at UR's Towers Field, with first pitch set for 1 pm.
