ALFRED, N.Y. -- A rally by Alfred State following the seventh-inning stretch guided the Pioneers to a 12-7 victory over the Elmira College baseball team on Sunday afternoon.

The Soaring Eagles (3-15) scored five runs in the top of the first and maintained their lead until the Pioneers (12-14) evened the score in the sixth. Alfred State then lit up the scoreboard with six runs in the home half of the seventh to complete the comeback.

EC batted around in the first inning, forcing starting pitcher Lewis Pettit out of the ballgame with two outs in the frame. Pettit walked James Delaney '22, Mason Ryan '22, and Jourdan Plaisted '21 to load the bases. Myles Littlejohn '24 and Luke Frontale '22 used a little two-out magic with an RBI single and two-run double, respectively, to put Elmira ahead 3-0. Struggling to find his command, Pettit issued three more free passes, with Jared Money '22 and Colin McLaughlin '22 picking up RBIs on back-to-back bases-loaded walks.

Propelled by a three-run homer by Matteo Avallone, the Pioneers responded with four runs in the bottom of the first, but the Soaring Eagles got out of the inning with a 5-4 lead. An error with the bases loaded in the sixth helped EC widen the gap to 6-4, but an error in the bottom of the sixth extended the frame long enough for Alfred State to tie the score at 6-all.

In the seventh, the Pioneers pounced on the Elmira bullpen, driving home six runs on three hits, three walks, and an error. The Soaring Eagles got one run back in the eighth when Delaney doubled home Shane Hake '21, but EC left the bases loaded.

News and Notes

• Elmira only had four hits against Alfred State but earned 13 walks, its second-highest single-game total this season.
• The Soaring Eagles only struck out four times, their fewest in a game since February 29, 2020, when EC only had two strikeouts in both halves of a doubleheader at McDaniel College.
• McLaughlin, Ryan, and Plaisted extended their on-base streaks, as each earned a pair of walks against the Pioneers. McLaughlin has been on base safely in 11 consecutive games, while the latter have reached in 10 straight.
• Frontale accounted for half of Elmira's hits, going 2-for-4 with a team-high two RBIs.
• Littlejohn has logged at least one hit in five consecutive contests.
• Michael Millross '24 tossed 1.2 shutout innings out of the bullpen.

Up Next
Empire 8 Conference play resumes on Tuesday, April 20. The Soaring Eagles visit Houghton College for a single game, which begins at 5:00 p.m. in Houghton, New York.