Score: St. John Fisher College 4, Elmira College 0
Score: St. John Fisher College 5, Elmira College 2
Records: St. John Fisher (8-6, 2-0 E8), Elmira (0-11, 0-2 E8)
Location: Dunn Field -- Elmira, N.Y.

ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College baseball team suffered a pair of losses to St. John Fisher College in the team's home- and Empire 8 Conference-opening games on a crisp and clear Sunday afternoon at historic Dunn Field. The Cardinals won the first game, 4-0, and fended off a late rally by the Soaring Eagles to take the nightcap, 5-2.

Game One
Starting pitcher's Conor Bawiec '18 (0-2) and Anthony Brophy (1-1) went toe-to-toe in the seven-inning series opener, but the St. John Fisher southpaw got the best of the Purple and Gold with a complete-game shutout. Brophy allowed just five hits without issuing a walk. For EC, Bawiec tossed all 7.0 innings, struck out eight, and surrendered four runs on eight hits.

Down by one in the bottom of the third, Eddie O'Donnell IV '18 and Mark Ryan '21 both singled to put a pair of runners on base with one out. However, both were stranded after a fielder's choice and fly out by the next two batters in the lineup.

Ryan Simmons belted a solo home run in the fourth to extend the lead for Fisher, but Bawiec recovered by striking out a pair to end the frame. Run-scoring infield hits allowed the Cardinals to extend their advantage to 4-0. Brophy preserved the shutout by leaving an Elmira runner in scoring position in three of the final four innings.

Game Two
It took seven innings for the Elmira bats to come alive, but it proved to be too little, too late. Down 3-0, the Soaring Eagles opened the bottom of the seventh with three consecutive hits, including a loud pinch-hit RBI single off the bat of Nick Sampogna '18. A perfectly-timed hit-and-run moved Sampogna from first to third on the ensuing single from Dennis Rudolph '18, and Nate Hanner '18 drove him in with a sac fly.

The mini-rally continued when Rudolph beat a throw by the Fisher catcher to second base on a short chopper in front of the plate hit by Cameron Heggie '18. The rally then came to a halt when O'Donnell grounded into a double play to end the inning.

The Soaring Eagles put runners on the corners in the eighth, but Cardinal reliever Dillan Wilkinson fanned both Bawiec and Sampogna on full counts. Elmira once again put a pair of runners on base in the bottom of the ninth, but the game came to a tough conclusion when Shane Hake '20 was gunned down trying to take third on a fly out in foul territory down the left-field line. St. John Fisher shortstop Justin Graham ran down the sky-high pop up despite colliding with left fielder Ryan Brown and was able to recover quickly enough to throw out Hake at third by two steps to seal the win.

Junior righty Nick Cottone '19 (0-2) took the loss after allowing two runs on four hits and a game-high five strikeouts. Freshman lefty Tim Geissel (3-0) earned the win for SJFC by tossing 6.0 innings of two-run ball with four punch outs.

News and Notes

• Elmira fell to 0-11 on the season and 0-2 against Empire 8 competition.
• Rudolph extended his on-base streak to 11 consecutive games and has at least one hit in six straight games.
• Bryce Plante '18 has hits in four consecutive games.
• Harrison Zambarano '19 entered off of the bench in the nightcap and picked up his third hit in four appearances in 2018.
• Sam Plaugher '20 had two hits in the late game, his second multi-hit game of the year.

Up Next
The Soaring Eagles and Cardinals will return to Dunn Field on Monday, March 26, for the final contest of their three-game conference set. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.