Score: University of Rochester 12, Elmira College 0
Score: University of Rochester 5, Elmira College 4
Records: Elmira (2-7), Rochester (4-5)
Location: Towers Field -- Rochester, N.Y.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The Elmira College baseball team rallied in the late innings of Friday's nightcap, but the host Yellowjackets of the University of Rochester finished the afternoon with a two-game sweep of the Soaring Eagles. It was all Rochester in the early bout, as the Yellowjackets picked up a 12-0 victory. In the finale, the Purple and Gold dug themselves out of a three-run hole in the seventh, but dropped the contest by one run, 5-4.

Game One
The Rochester bats came out swinging in the first two innings of the early game, as the Yellowjackets posted nine runs on six hits and two Elmira errors to take a 9-0 lead. EC starter Nick Cottone '19 took the loss in the contest, his first of the season, allowing eight earned runs while striking out three in 2.0 inning.

Out of the bullpen, Kyle Tubbs '22 and Blake Phelps '19 fared much better. Tubbs relieved Cottone to open the third and did not allow a hit in 2.0 shutout frames. Phelps followed with 1.1 scoreless innings. For both right-handers, their relief outings are their longest of the young 2019 campaign.

Connor Trower '22 closed the seven-inning contest with his second relief appearance of the year. He allowed three runs in the bottom of the sixth but got both of his outs with strikeouts.

Game Two
Elmira rallied back from a three-run deficit to tie the nightcap at 4-all in the top of the seventh. Down 4-1, the Soaring Eagles pushed across one run on a squeeze play by Sam Plaugher '20 that drove in Mason Ryan '22. Plaugher added two more RBIs to this total in the seventh inning, as he leveled the score with a two-run single that plated Ryan and Jack Thomas '22.

With the score even at 4-4, EC starter Andy Reed '19 was relieved on the mound by Corey DeMauro '20, who threw the final 2.0 innings. In a no-decision, Reed surrendered four runs on eight hits in 6.0 innings. The senior southpaw also struck out three. DeMauro entered in the bottom of the seventh and retired the first two batters he faced, but back-to-back doubles from Jack Herman and Aiden Finch scored the eventual game-winning run for the Yellowjackets.

The Soaring Eagles stranded the would-be tying run on base in both the eighth and ninth innings. In the eighth, Joey Florio '20 was hit by a full-count pitch. He then swiped second with one out, but his teammates were unable to bring him home. Similarly, in the ninth, Jansen Crossley '20 singled and stole second, but Rochester's Garrett Renslow struck out the side to earn the save.

News and Notes

• Senior Jack Donnelly '19 led all Soaring Eagles with three hits in both games combined.
• Florio, Thomas, and Crossley each had two hits in the two games.
• Plaugher's three RBIs in the late game are a single-game season-high.
• Tubbs threw a season-high 2.0 innings in his second scoreless appearance.
• Phelps completed his first scoreless relief outing in the early game.
• Donnelly has hits in all three games that he's played this season.

Up Next
Elmira travels to Stevens Institute of Technology for a three-game series on Saturday, March 23, and Sunday, March 24. Saturday's doubleheader in Hoboken, New Jersey, is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m.