Elmira at Ithaca
Series Details	Saturday, April 7 | Ithaca, N.Y. | 1:00 p.m. (DH) Sunday, April 8 | Ithaca, N.Y. | 1:00 p.m.
Series Coverage	Live Stats: Stats Link  Live Video: Video Link
Ithaca Links	Roster | Schedule | Stats

ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College baseball team will look to build off of its second Empire 8 Conference win of the season this weekend, as the Soaring Eagles will make the short trip north on Route 13 for a conference series against Ithaca College. On Saturday, April 7, the two sides will kick off a twin bill at 1:00 p.m. at Ithaca's Freeman Field.

LAST TIME OUT
The Soaring Eagles closed Thursday's doubleheader against Stevens Institute of Technology with a 7-5 victory at historic Dunn Field. The Ducks held a 5-3 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, but EC posted a four-spot on the scoreboard to turn a two-run deficit into a two-run lead. With runners on the corners, Tommy Fogarty '20 hit an infield single deep in the hole on the left side to drive in Sam Plaugher '20. An intentional walk issued to Conor Bawiec '18 then loaded the bases for Joey Florio '20, who came up with one of the biggest hits of the day, a two-run go-ahead double down the right-field line. Florio added an insurance run in the seventh by scoring on a wild pitch. From there, lefty Andy Reed '19 finished the game on the mound to earn his first win of the season. Reed tossed 7.0 innings of relief and allowed just two runs on six hits with a pair of strikeouts.

FOGARTY TAKING FLIGHT
After being named a Division III Player to Watch by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper in the offseason, Fogarty's sophomore season began in a slump at the plate. However, the Wayne, Pennsylvania, native is amidst quite the turnaround. In his first nine games, the second-year first baseman hit at a mere .097 clip (3-for-31), but in his last seven outings, Fogarty has recorded a tremendous .458 batting average (11-for-24) with 10 of his season's 11 RBIs. He has multiple hits in four of the last seven games and drove in a season-high four runs in EC's first win of the year over Utica College on March 30.

SCOUTING ITHACA
Winners of last season's Empire 8 Tournament, the Bombers find themselves at .500 through the first 18 games of the season and 2-4 in conference play. Ithaca won the series opener against both Stevens and St. John Fisher, but dropped the last two games against the Ducks and Cardinals, respectively. The Bombers rank second-to-last in the E8 in team batting average (.247), leading only the Soaring Eagles (.232), but the Ithaca pitching staff paces the league with a 3.73 ERA. The team returned two of its top starting pitchers in Jake Binder, an All-Region honoree, and Jack Morello. This season, Binder has made a team-high six starts and boasts a 2-2 record and a 3.29 ERA. Morello has made five starts and leads the Bombers in both strikeouts (24) and wins (3-0).

LOOKING AHEAD
Following this weekend's series against Ithaca, the Soaring Eagles will host Hilbert College in a non-conference matchup at historic Dunn Field on Friday, April 13, at 3:00 p.m.