Utica, NY -- The Inaugural Elmira College baseball season came to an end this morning as the Soaring Eagles fell by an 11-4 score in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament Play-In Game to SUNY Canton. EC concludes 2015 with an 8-30 overall record and finished the season winning six of their last nine games.
The Roos used a solo home run from their number two hitter in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead, but Elmira answered back with two runs of their own in the bottom half to take a 2-1 lead.
A lead-off walk by
Hayden Rothenberg '17 helped get things started as he stole second to move into scoring position. Rothenberg made his way to third base on a
Mike Burghardt '18 groundout and then scored when a ball hit by
Dylan Bellinger'17 resulted in an error by the Canton shortstop and extended the inning. That error proved to be costly for the Roos as a
Conor Bawiec'18 hit and a
Bryce Plante'18 walk loaded the bases for
Dennis Rudolph'18, who came through with a single up the middle, scoring Bellinger. With the bases still loaded, EC looked to add more, but
Jordan Marquez'18 would ground out to end the inning.
Those runs would have given a cushion that the Soaring Eagles ended up needed as Canton retook the lead with a pair of runs in the second inning. The Roos led off the inning with back-to-back hits, the second hit forcing a throwing error that brought home Canton's first run of the inning. Then, later in the inning, a sacrifice fly plated the Roos' second run and gave them the lead that Canton would not relinquish.
The Purple and Gold went three-up, three-down in the second, third, and fourth innings, all while Canton was adding another two runs to its lead, making it 5-2. Rothenberg again tried to manufacture a run for EC in the fifth inning, working a walk on five pitches and then stealing second and third base on successive pitches, but the Soaring Eagles could not bring him home as the game remained 5-2 heading into the sixth inning.
Canton added two runs in the top half of the sixth inning to make it 7-2, but EC's scoreless drought came to an end in the bottom half as Rudolph grounded into a fielder's choice, bringing Bawiec in from third base. The Roos added two runs in each of the seventh and eighth innings to break open an 11-3 advantage. Elmira got one back in the bottom of the ninth and looked to add more with the bases loaded and just one out, but the final two batters would strike out, ending the game.
Bawiec went 3-for-4 at the plate while Rothenberg was 1-for-2 with three walks and three stolen bases. Rudolph did not have his best on the mound, allowing seven runs in six innings pitched, but did come through with two RBI and scored a run offensively.
