ITHACA, NY – University of Rochester baseball split a doubleheader against Ithaca College to open its three-game series against the Bombers on Thursday afternoon at Freeman Field. The Yellowjackets scored eight runs in the top of the eighth to earn a come-from-behind, 8-7 victory in game one. The Bombers then put up an eight-spot in the seventh inning of game two to force a doubleheader split with a run-rule-shortened 13-3 win in game two.
 
With the split, Rochester moves to 13-11 (8-5 LL) on the year, while the Bombers now sit at 18-11 (11-4 LL). The series now moves to Rochester, where the 'Jackets and Bombers will face off in the rubber match on Friday, April 18, at 4:00 p.m. at Towers Field.
 
Game 1: Rochester 8, Ithaca 7
Ithaca jumped on Rochester early, scoring four runs on four hits after the Yellowjackets went in order in their first trip to the plate. The Bombers notched three-straight two-out hits after Sammy Rosenfield retired Camden Laney for the second out of the inning, taking a 1-0 lead on Matt Curtis' RBI double and doubling their lead on Curtis' steal of home, before Ethan Fantel's two-run blast made it 4-0 after one.
 
Rosenfield settled down after a four-run first, stranding a pair in the bottom of the second and working around a two-out walk in the third, allowing just seven baserunners after the Bombers' four-run first, but Ithaca's Reed Bailey did Rosenfield one better, holding UR to just three hits over 7.0 innings pitched.
 
In the top of the fourth, Colby Cruser picked up UR's first hit, a single up the middle, and Josh Leadem followed with a hit-by-pitch to give Rochester its first runner in scoring position on the day, but Bailey got a pair of popouts to end the threat, and then worked around another baserunner in the fifth.
 
With Bailey's pitch count rising, the 'Jackets loaded the bases in the top of the seventh on a single by Luke Gregory and two walks drawn by Sammy Smith and Jack Cocoran, but Bailey got a flyout to escape without any damage, finishing his day without allowing a run.
 
Ithaca then tacked on three more in the bottom of the seventh, chasing Rosenfield after an error and a single put runners at the corners with nobody out.
 
Thomas Blaydes relieved Rosenfield and got Ethan Daddabbo to ground out, bringing home a run but putting an out on the scoreboard, but another error allowed Curtis to reach, and a batter later, Fantel roped a two-run double to center to extend the Bombers' lead to 7-0.
 
However, with Bailey out of the game, relieved by Dan Kellachan to start the eighth, the Yellowjackets got their offense going and put up an eight-spot to take the lead. Sammy Besztery doubled down the left-field line on just the third pitch from Kellachan he saw, and after Cruser singled and Leadem was hit by another pitch, Alexander Gonzalo brought home UR's first run of the game with an infield single.
 
Down 7-1, Gregory legged out another infield single to score Cruser and make it 7-2, while Ethan Jaquette's two-run single scored both Leadem and Gonzalo to pull Rochester within three, 7-4.
 
Smith drew a walk to reload the bases for Corcoran, who was hit by Kellachan's 3-2 pitch to cut Ithaca's lead to 7-5. The Bombers brought in Sean Kelly to relieve Kellachan, but Jackson Reed and Besztery each worked the count to bring home another run, Reed singling to center on a 3-2 pitch, and Besztery drawing a seven-pitch walk to score Smith and tie the score at seven.
 
The Bombers finally got the first out of the inning on Cruser's fielder's choice, cutting down Corcoran at home, but Leadem gave UR its first lead of the day with a sacrifice fly to right, before Kelly finally got out of the inning after eight runs on six hits and an error gave Rochester an 8-7 lead.
 
Now up by a run, Blaydes came back out for the bottom of the eighth and got the first two outs of the inning, but after yielding a single and a walk, the Yellowjackets brought in Cruser for the four-out save.
 
Cruser walked the first batter he faced on six pitches but bounced back to strike out Curtis looking to strand both baserunners. And after Rochester couldn't add any insurance runs in the top of the ninth, Cruser locked down the save in the bottom of the inning, striking out a pair to close out the 8-7, comeback victory.
 
Blaydes (2-1) earned the win, allowing an unearned run on two hits, walking two, and striking out one over 1.2 innings pitched. Cruser (2) picked up the save, striking out three and walking one over 1.1 innings pitched, while Rosenfield took a no-decision, allowing six runs, four earned, on six hits, walking two and striking out seven over six innings of work.
 
For Ithaca, Kellachan (1-1) took the loss, allowing eight runs on five hits, while Bailey took a no-decision, allowing just three hits and walking three in 7.0 innings pitched.
 
Cruser and Gregory each had two hits to lead UR at the plate, with Cruser going 2-for-5 with a run scored, while Gregory went 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. Jaquette had a team-high two RBI, going 1-for-5 with a run scored and two driven in.
 
Game 2: Ithaca 13, Rochester 3 (8 inn.)
The Yellowjackets would strike first in game two, plating runs in the top of the second and third innings. Gonzalo led off the second with a single to right center, and after Gregory drew a five-pitch walk, Jaquette moved the runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt. A batter later, Gonzalo scored on Colin Leyner's wild pitch to give Rochester a 1-0 lead, but Leyner struck out a pair to keep UR from adding any more.
 
Then, in the top of the third, Reed led off the inning with a four-pitch walk and took second on Cruser's double. After Leyner retired Besztery, Leadem brought home another run with a sacrifice fly to right, giving the Yellowjackets a 2-0 advantage.
 
Sunil Lindsay got the start for Rochester in game two and worked around some traffic on the basepaths, stranding runners in each of the first three frames, with some help from a 4-6-3 double play in the third.
 
However, Ithaca would answer back in the bottom of the fourth, pushing a pair of runs across to level the score at 2-2. With one out, Logan Scully's RBI single pulled the Bombers within one, and after a wild pitch moved the baserunners up to second and third, Ryan Laubscher tied the game with a groundout to second.
 
Matt Casiero relieved Lindsay and worked out of the inning, and the Yellowjackets retook the lead two innings later in the top of the sixth.
 
Gregory drew a hit-by-pitch to lead off the inning, moved up to third on an error on Smith's grounder to short, and then scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-2 UR. Despite loading the bases later on in the frame, the Bombers held Rochester to just one run, getting Smith out at home on Corcoran's squeeze bunt, while John Griffin stranded the bases loaded with a grounder to first.
 
Ithaca answered right back in the bottom of the frame, on Scully's RBI groundout, evening the score at three-all, and after UR left a runner on in the top of the seventh, the Bombers would break the game open in the bottom of the inning.
 
The Bombers scored eight runs on just four hits in the inning, taking advantage of a dropped fly ball and four walks yielded by Rochester's bullpen. Fantel's two-run single after the defensive miscue made it 5-3 Ithaca, while back-to-back bases loaded walks drawn by Daddabbo and Laubscher extended Ithaca's lead to 8-3.
 
Andrew McDermott capped off the inning with a bases-clearing double to give the Bombers an eight-run lead headed to the eighth, and then Ithaca would walk off with a 13-3, run-rule victory in the bottom of the eighth on Curtis' two-run homer.
 
Casiero (1-2) took the loss for UR, allowing two runs on two hits, striking out three over 2.2 innings pitched. Griffin (3-2) earned the win for Ithaca, allowing one hit and striking out two over 2.1 innings of work out of the bullpen.
 
Lindsay allowed two runs on four hits, walking two and striking out one over 3.2 innings in his start, while Leyner allowed three runs, two earned, on five hits, walking and striking out five over 5.2 innings pitched.
 
At the plate, Cruser went 3-for-4 with a walk and a double to lead the Yellowjackets, while Gonzalo and Reed both went 1-for-4 with a run scored.
 
Rochester will host game three of the series at Towers Field in Rochester, NY on Friday, April 18, with first pitch scheduled for 4:00 p.m.