Baseball: Fisher vs. Ithaca
By Paul Williams
Last Updated:9:58 PM EST 4/22/08 Section: Sports
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The Cardinals trailed 2-1 going into the fifth inning but found some momentum by loading the bases with no outs. However, a John Quartironi RBI fielder's choice would be the only run of the inning.
Ithaca struck right back in the sixth with a two out RBI single by Josh Wolf to give the Bombers the 3-2 lead.
Fisher still had two more innings at the plate to take the lead back but could not capitalize. A runner was stranded at second in the bottom of the sixth and Ithaca pitcher Shane Wolf finished a complete game by retiring three straight Cardinals to end the game in the seventh.
Chad King led Fisher from the mound and with his hitting. Offensively King went 2-4 but it was performance from the mound that most impressed head coach Dan Pepicelli.
"Chad was phenomenal. He stuck to the plan and he executed," Pepicelli said.
Despite King's performance Fisher fell just short of taking the first game of the series.
"If we made one or two defensive plays we could have taken control of it, but we didn't and we left it out there."
Game 2: The St. John Fisher College men's baseball team beat the Ithaca Bombers 4-3 in the second game of the four game series. The loss was Ithaca's first conference loss of the season.
Sophomore Dan Jurik went five innings for the win and gave up only two hits. Of Ithaca's three recorded runs, only one was earned. Justin Lutes then came in for the two inning save. That save made Lutes Fisher's all-time leader in saves.
"If you look through our schedule you'll see all the tight games that we've been in and there is one consistent in there and that's Justin Lutes," manager Dan Pepicelli said.
The Cardinals were able to get off to a much better start in this game and scored three runs in the first two innings. The Bombers answered with two runs in the third but were unable to ever tie the game.
Fisher was led offensively by third baseman Jason Nevada who went two for three with an RBI. Dave Roth also recorded two RBI for the Cardinals.
The last inning featured the entire Fisher team visibly excited about beating the defending Empire 8 champions after a double play ended the game.
"They are usually one of the better teams in the region and one of the better teams in the country so any time we can get a win against them it really helps us out," Lutes said.
Game Three: The Ithaca College Bombers defeated the St. John Fisher College Cardinals in the third game of a four game series by a score of 7-1. The win for Ithaca ensured the Bombers of at least a share of the Empire 8 championship.
Ithaca made an offensive statement early in the game and led Fisher by a score of 6-1 after three innings. Cardinal's pitcher Ryan Hanson had a particularly rough outing, as he allowed nine hits and six runs in three innings of work.
Ithaca stand-out pitcher Nick Sottung, on the other hand, pitched a completegame four hitter. The senior has a 1.78 ERA and leads Ithaca in career victories.
Perhaps the one bright spot for the Cardinals their bullpen. Five different pitchers came in to close out the game and gave up a combined three hits and one unearned run.
Jon Gibbs also scored the only run of the game for Fisher and went one for three for the day.
Fisher had a chance in the first inning to put a dent in that ERA and loaded the bases with no outs. However, the Cardinals would fail to fully capitalize and only scored one run.
Another opportunity went unanswered in the fourth inning when the Cardinals had runners at first and third with one out but hit into a double play.
"We got a few knocks off him, but any time you get a good arm like that you have to be opportunistic and we weren't," head coach Dan Pepicelli said.
Game 4: The St. John Fisher College baseball team lost the last game of a four game series with the visiting Ithaca College Bombers by the score of 4-3. The loss eliminates any chance of the Cardinals tying Ithaca for a share of the Empire 8 championship.
In what became a trend in the series against the Bombers, the Cardinals could not capitalize with runners in scoring position. Fisher did not convert in the third inning with the bases loaded or with a runner on third base in the second.
The Cardinals did not give up, however, and pulled within one run during the sixth inning and after a John Quartironi RBI single, had runners at first and third base with one out.
All of that momentum was quickly extinguished when Quartironi was picked off at first to give the Bombers their second out of the inning. A Chad King fly out (one that most likely would have resulted in the tying run being scored off of a sacrifice fly had there been only one out) then ended the Fisher rally.
"It was very frustrating because it's always about situational hitting and knowing what to do and we just didn't do it," Justin Lutes said.
The 1-3 weekend leaves Fisher with a 15-8-1 record overall and a 5-3 conference record. It also allowed Ithaca to clinch their eighth straight Empire 8 conference title.
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