ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Needing a pair of wins to leapfrog Keuka College in the Empire 8 Conference standings, the Elmira College baseball team earned a 4-2 victory in the opener on Sunday before rain halted game two in the eighth.

Without being able to finish the second game before the 2021 Empire 8 Championship, Keuka (5-14-1, 5-14-1 E8) will receive the fourth seed and host the Soaring Eagles (6-26-1, 4-14-1 E8) in the first round on Tuesday, May 11.

Had EC gotten a sweep before precipitation saturated the Dunn Field, the Soaring Eagles would've hosted their first-ever playoff game.

Elmira 4, Keuka 2
The Soaring Eagles punished Keuka starter James Fino in the first inning. Fino only recorded one out before he was replaced and was saddled with the loss after giving up four runs on three walks, one hit by pitch, and one base hit.

With the bases loaded, Fino walked Jourdan Plaisted '21 on five pitches, forcing Elmira's first run home. Reliever Jared Beckley then allowed all three inherited runs to score on a two-run Myles Littlejohn '24 double and a sac fly off the bat of Jared Money '22.

Keuka slashed EC's advantage in half with two unearned runs in the top of the second. But the two teams breezed through the remaining innings as EC starter Taber Carter '21 and Beckley took control.

Carter only had one 1-2-3 inning during his complete game. Still, he managed to keep the Wolves off the scoreboard for the final five innings while dancing in and out of trouble. Carter stranded the tying runs on base in the fourth and sixth innings, and with two runners on in the seventh, the senior righty got the 6-4-3 double play he needed to secure the win.

Elmira 7, Keuka 7 (8 inn.)
Elmira once again pieced together a big inning early and chased Keuka's starter, Daniel Steve, from the mound. Given a 3-0 lead to work with, Steve struggled in the bottom of the second. After he plunked James Delaney '22 to load the bases, Mason Ryan '22 and Colin McLaughlin '22 followed with back-to-back two-run hits. Ryan lofted a double to right-center, and McLaughlin sent a 1-0 pitch back up the middle to put EC up by two, 5-3.

After Steve was subbed out, the Soaring Eagles had a more difficult time trying to solve Keuka's lefty, Spencer Brown. Brown was one batter over the minimum between the second and sixth innings. Even when EC overcame a 7-5 deficit to tie the score in the seventh, he recorded all three outs by catching Elmira hitters staring at strike three.

Free passes issued to Delaney and Plaisted, plus a McLaughlin single, loaded the bases for Elmira against Brown in the seventh. The first pitch Littlejohn saw in the next at-bat was roped just out of the first baseman's reach and down the right-field line. The double plated Delaney and McLaughlin and evened the score at 7-7.

Although the grounds crew did their best to maintain the infield during the rain, the umps were forced to halt the action in the bottom of the eighth after a Keuka infielder slipped in the mud trying cover first base.

News and Notes

• Following Sunday's regular-season home finale, the Soaring Eagles finished the 2021 season 5-8-1 at Dunn Field.
• Elmira and Keuka split their season series, 2-2-1.
• Eight of the nine batters who received a plate appearance on Sunday collected at least one hit.
• The lone exception, Plaisted, still reached base at a .429 clip thanks to a trio of walks.
• Plaisted has reached base safely in eight consecutive games, the longest active streak on the team.
• Ryan, Littlejohn, and McLaughlin all had three hits against the Wolves.
• Two of Littlejohn's hits were doubles, and the rookie paced all EC hitters with four RBIs.
• Carter tossed his second complete game of the season and picked up his third win on the mound.
• With 31 strikeouts in 2021, Carter moved into a tie for 10th-place in program single-season history.
• With four career complete games, Carter now owns sole possession second place all-time.

Up Next
On Tuesday, May 11, the Soaring Eagles will travel to Keuka Park, New York, for the first round of the 2021 Empire 8 Championship. The start time, plus addition details for live stats and streaming video, will be announced in the near future.