Score: Houghton College 7, Elmira College 5
Records: Houghton (12-12, 5-6 E8), Elmira (3-21, 2-10 E8)
Location: Kerr-Pegula Stadium -- Houghton, N.Y.

HOUGHTON, N.Y. -- The Elmira College baseball team led by as many as two runs on two occasions during Friday night's Empire 8 Conference bout against Houghton College, but a four-run fifth inning proved to be enough for the Highlanders to secure a 7-5 come-from-behind win.

Things looked good for the Soaring Eagles in the early innings. In the top of the first, EC began the game with back-to-back walks, and both runners came around to score on RBI singles by Tommy Fogarty '20 and Dennis Rudolph '18. Already up 2-0, Jack Thistle '18 was issued a free pass that loaded the bases, but the senior outfielder was picked off first base to end the scoring threat.

Elmira loaded the bases again in the second inning but was unable to add to its two-run cushion. A lead-off walk to Eddie O'Donnell IV '18 and consecutive infield singles by Bryce Plante '18 and Sam Plaugher '20 put ducks on the pond for the heart of the EC lineup. Alas, vital runs were stranded on base when Houghton's starting pitcher, Brandon Joslin, struck out both Bawiec and Fogarty to escape the jam unscathed.

Joslin retired six in a row between the second and fourth innings and worked around another walk by inducing a double play to end the fourth. He was taxed for two more runs in the top of the fifth, but both were unearned, thanks to a two-out error by the Houghton shortstop. After the miscue extended the inning, Rudolph slugged another RBI single that broke a 2-2 tie, and Joey Florio '20 put the Soaring Eagles ahead 4-2 with an RBI base hit that drove in Rudolph from second base.

The lead was short-lived, however, as the host Highlanders tallied four runs in the bottom of the fifth to take an insurmountable lead. Catcher Ethan Duryea knotted the score at 4-all with a sacrifice fly, and two batters later Ben Closson drove in a pair on a two-out triple. Bawiec ended the rally with his fifth strikeout of the night on the mound for the Soaring Eagles, but not before Houghton jumped ahead 6-4.

Third-year lefty Andy Reed '19 fanned five batters in the remaining 3.0 innings out of the bullpen and allowed just one run in the seventh.

Down by three, 7-4, the Soaring Eagles put runners on the corners with one out, but once again came up empty. After pinch-runner Shane Hake '20 was picked off first base, Cameron Heggie '18 struck out with Jack Volpe '20 left on third base. Plaugher walked, stole second and scored on a Houghton error in the ninth, but it was too little, too late for EC.

News and Notes

• Elmira's overall record dropped to 3-21, while its Empire 8 mark fell to 2-10.
• For just the third time in 2018, the EC defense did not commit an error.
• The Soaring Eagles struck out 12 times on Friday, tying a single-game season-high.
• Rudolph finished 2-for-5 at the dish for his team-leading 10th multi-hit game of the year.
• Rudolph tied a career high by swiping his 13th base, equaling his single-season high set as a sophomore.
• Plaugher reached base on four occasions by going 1-for-2 with three walks.
• Fogarty drove in his team-best 15th run.
• With five strikeouts, Bawiec extended his lead in that category to a team-high 39.
• Reed's five strikeouts mark a new single-game career-high for the junior southpaw.

Up Next
Elmira will finish the three-game series with Houghton on Saturday, April 21, with a doubleheader in Houghton, New York. The opening game will begin at 1:00 p.m.