Elmira, NY -- It took a full nine innings to decide tonight's winner, but when it was all said and done, it would be the Elmira College baseball team who came away with a win as they edged visiting Cazenovia College in walk-off fashion, 8-7.
Conor Bawiec '18 delivered the game-winning walk-off hit as his ninth inning bloop single to center field scored
Rey Colon '18 to give the Soaring Eagles their second win in as many days.
Tonight's nine-inning seesaw battle featured four lead changes and two ties, with the latest tie occurring in the top of the eighth inning when the Wildcats of Cazenovia closed a two-run gap to tie things up at 7-7. Tonight's contest also saw both teams register 10-plus hits, 11 for Elmira and 10 for Cazenovia, as well as eight errors split evenly at four apiece.
Alexander Taulien '17 got the start on the mound for Elmira tonight and tossed a full 7.0 innings while striking out a career-high seven batters. Taulien allowed five runs, only one of which was earned, as he threw a career-high 107 pitches, marking the first time in nine appearances he has thrown over 100 pitches.
Although Taulien had a superb outing, he did not earn the win tonight. Relief pitcher
Nick Sampogna '18 did however earn his first collegiate win after going 1.1 innings, thowing only 14 pitches to register the four outs needed to close out the Wildcats.
The Soaring Eagles saw four players log multi-hit performances, including
Hayden Rothenberg '17,
Dylan Bellinger '17,
Dennis Rudolph '18, and
Jack Thistle '18. Rothenberg went 2-for-5 with one RBI while Bellinger went 2-for-4 with two RBI, one intentional walk, and one run scored. Rudolph was 2-for-3 with one run scored and Thistle went 2-for-3 with a career-high three RBI.
The Wildcats took the game's first lead in the top of the second inning on an RBI single by Arek Olson but EC responded the bottom half of the inning with a two-out single by Thistle. Thistle's single through the middle of Cazenovia's infield scored Bawiec and
Nate Hanner '18, who reached safely to lead off the inning after being hit by pitches.
Elmira held their 2-1 lead through the next inning but two very costly errors in the top of the fourth inning allowed Cazenovia to plate four runs, all of which were unearned.
Trailing 5-2, Elmira began to chip away at the Wildcat lead in the bottom half of the fourth thanks to a pair of Cazenovia errors that put EC runners in scoring position for Thistle, who delivered an RBI single that trimmed the lead to 5-3. Later in the inning, an infield single by Rothenberg drove-in
Will Jenkins '18 from third base, cutting the Cazenovia lead to 5-4.
EC evened things up in the bottom of the fifth inning as a two-out double by Hanner scored Bellinger from second, who led-off the inning with a double of his own.
With the game tied 5-5, Elmira continued their rally in the bottom of the sixth as the Soaring Eagles scored a pair of runs on yet another timely two-out situation. This time it would be Bellinger who played the hero as he blistered a shot down the left field line, scoring Colon from second and
Mike Burghardt '18 from first, giving Elmira their first lead since the bottom of the third inning.
After a scoreless seventh inning, Elmira turned the game over to their bullpen in the eighth with hopes of closing out the Wildcats as the Soaring Eagles held a 7-5 lead. In the inning, Cazenovia would take advantage of a pair of wild pitches and string together a pair of hits as well to even the game at 7-7.
The game remained tied through the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth as the heart of Elmira's lineup took to the plate to begin the bottom of the ninth inning. Despite falling behind in the count 1-2, Colon began the ninth with a double to center field, allowing Burghardt to lay down a sacrifice bunt, putting Colon 90 feet from an EC win.
Bellinger stepped to the plate next but with one out and first base open, Cazenovia opted to intentionally walk him to face Bawiec, who was hitless with two strikeouts entering the at-bat. With the infield playing in, Bawiec took the second pitch he saw and blooped it into shallow center field, scoring Colon from third for a walk-off 8-7 win.
Elmira will look to build on their back-to-back wins tomorrow, when the Soaring Eagles host Hilbert College in a non-conference doubleheader. Tomorrow's doubleheader is set to begin at 6:00 p.m. at Dunn Field.
