CORNING, N.Y. – A pair of close contests would go the way of the Elmira College baseball program as the Soaring Eagles swept an Empire 8 doubleheader against Houghton, 6-5 & 7-5, on Friday afternoon at Corning Community College.
GAME INFORMATION:
SCORE: Elmira 6, Houghton 5 (Game One)
Elmira 7, Houghton 5 (Game Two)
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (8-10-1, 4-1-1 Empire 8), Houghton (7-17, 0-6 Empire 8)
LOCATION: Corning, New York | Corning Community College
W|L|S: Angus Adams (3-0) | Hunter Kendall (2-4) |
David Kruis (4)
Michael Millross (1-2) | Jeremey Wilcox (1-6) |
David Kruis (5)
KEY MOMENT:
Elmira scored the first four runs of game one and three runs in the fourth inning.
Colin McLaughlin '22 extended EC's lead to 6-4 with an RBI single in the sixth inning
David Kruis '23 recorded his fourth save of the season despite allowing a run in the seventh inning.
Jarod Signorelli '23 and
Myles Littlejohn '24 delivered run-scoring hits to give Elmira a 4-1 lead in game two.
Brett Warden '25 cleared the bases for the Purple & Gold with a triple in the seventh inning that would prove to be the game-winning hit.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Jourdan Plaisted '21 opened the scoring for Elmira in the bottom of the second inning of game one with a triple that allowed
Joe Morrone '22 to score and make it 1-0. The Soaring Eagles added to their lead with a three-run bottom of the fourth as two runs would score via wild pitches by the Highlanders. Littlejohn would also deliver a run-scoring single in the frame that scored Morrone.
Houghton rallied to trim the deficit in the top of the fifth inning against Elmira Starter
Angus Adams '22. Zach Parr put the Highlanders within a run of the Soaring Eagles with a triple that plated a pair of runs to make it 4-3.
Elmira extended its lead to 6-4 in the bottom of the sixth inning as McLaughlin delivered a single that allowed Warden to score. Houghton would notch a run in the top of the seventh inning against Kruis before he closed the door on the Highlanders and secured the victory for the Soaring Eagles.
The Highlanders opened the scoring in game two with a run in the top of the second inning. Elmira quickly answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame as Warden knotted the score 1-1 with a single to right field. A sacrifice fly from Littlejohn would give Elmira a 2-1 lead before Signorelli followed with a single to make it 3-1.
It would be Littlejohn that helped to add to the Purple & Gold's advantage in the bottom of the fifth inning with a single that allowed Plaisted to score and make it 4-1. Houghton scored each of the next four runs in the contest to rally and take a 5-4 lead following a two-run double by Parr.
Walks would dominate the bottom of the seventh inning for the Soaring Eagles as the bases would be loaded following three consecutive free passes to open the frame. After falling behind in the count 0-2, Warden laced a ball down the left-field line that cleared the bases to give EC a 7-5 advantage.
Kruis worked the eighth and ninth innings out of the bullpen for the Soaring Eagles and would scatter one hit around a pair of strikeouts to secure his fifth save of the season.
Michael Millross '24 earned the win after getting Elmira out of a jam in the top of the seventh inning.
STATS:
Warden finished the day 3-for-5 at the plate with four RBI and two runs scored, while Morrone went 3-for-5 at the plate with four runs scored.
Mason Ryan '22 finished just 1-for-4 at the plate but worked four walks and scored a pair of runs for Elmira.
Adams worked six innings on the mound in game one for Elmira, scattering four runs off of seven hits to go along with five strikeouts, while
Justin Hyde '25 took a no-decision in game two after allowing three runs off of four hits through 5.1 innings of work.
UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles travel to face the Highlanders for a pair of E8 contests on Saturday beginning at 1:00 p.m.
