HOUGHTON, N.Y. -- After falling in game one of Saturday's Empire 8 Conference doubleheader, the Elmira College baseball team rallied in the final three innings to earn a split with Houghton College. The Highlanders (18-11, 10-8 E8) held on for a 9-6 win in the opening contest, before the Soaring Eagles (4-24, 2-12 E8) came from behind to secure an 8-3 victory in the nightcap.
Houghton 9, Elmira 6
Houghton jumped out to a 4-0 lead, scoring runs in the first, second and fourth innings. Elmira answered in the bottom of the fourth with a four spot, tying the game at 4-4.
In the fourth,
Myles Littlejohn '24 and
Shane Hake '21 drove in runs. Littlejohn produced an RBI single with two outs, while Hake smacked a three-run homer with two outs.
Houghton reclaimed a one-run advantage in the top of the fifth, but Elmira pulled ahead in the bottom half of the inning, 6-5, to take its first lead of the contest.
Jared Money '22 scored Jared Signorelli '23 on a sacrifice fly and
Colin McLaughlin '22 produced an RBI single that put the Purple and Gold on top by one run.
Elmira's lead was short-lived though, as the Highlanders scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning and tacked on an insurance run in the top of the seventh, all while holding EC scoreless, to secure the conference win.
Elmira 8, Houghton 3
The Highlanders took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning behind a sacrifice fly, but a two-run home run from
Joe Morrone '22 in the bottom half of the inning put the Purple and Gold on top, 2-1. With two outs, Morrone blasted the first pitch he saw over the fence in left field to score himself and
James Delaney '21.
Houghton responded in the next inning with a pair of runs on a two-out single by David Wessells to put the Highlanders on top, 3-2.
Following scoreless innings in the third, fourth and fifth innings, the Soaring Eagles went on to score two runs in each of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings en route to the win.
Morrone got things started for EC in the sixth inning, as the junior first baseman doubled down the left-field line to score McLaughlin from first base. Then, two batters later,
Luke Frontale '22 plated Morrone on a sacrifice fly to put Elmira on top, 4-3.
In the seventh,
Jourdan Plaisted '21 knocked a two-out single into center field to score both McLaughlin and Money.
Elmira was the beneficiary of wild pitches in the bottom of the eighth inning as Hake and Frontale scored on wild pitches. Both runs were scored with one out.
David Kruis '23 got the starting nod and picked up his first win of the season. The second-year hurler tossed 6.0 innings of three-run ball with three strikeouts and two walks. Of the three runs allowed, only one was earned.
Steve Leopold '22 and
Alex Crysler '21 came in for relief duty and combined for three shutout innings. Leopold logged 2.0 innings and allowed just one batter to reach base on a walk. Crysler entered in the ninth inning, and after allowing a leadoff triple, struck out three batters to seal the win.
News and Notes
- Elmira served as the home team in both games despite playing on Houghton's home field.
- Elmira secured its second Empire 8 win of the season.
- Hake hit his first career home run.
- Kruis recorded the first win of his career.
- Morrone hit his second home run of the season.
- Hake led EC in RBIs in game one with three.
- Morrone led EC in RBIs in game two with three.
- Over two games, Littlejohn led EC at the plate with a 3-for-6 showing (.500).
- Over two games, McLaughlin logged a team-high four hits.
- In two games, Signorelli went 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts.
Up Next
Elmira returns to action on Sunday, May 2, when the Soaring Eagles host the Wolves of Keuka College in a 1:00 p.m. Empire 8 showdown at Historic Dunn Field.
