ALBANY, N.Y. – The Elmira College baseball program outscored Sage College 14-1 over the final four innings to secure a 15-14 victory in game two of a doubleheader on Sunday and clinch the final playoff spot in the upcoming Empire 8 Conference Tournament.

Elmira clinched a postseason berth in the Empire 8 Tournament by winning once on Sunday and Keuka dropping a doubleheader against top-seed St. John Fisher earlier in the day.
 

GAME INFORMATION:
SCORE: Elmira 1, Sage 9 (Game One)
               Elmira 15, Sage 14 (Game Two)
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (12-21-1, 7-12-1 Empire 8), Sage (13-25-1, 9-11-0 Empire 8)
LOCATION: Albany, New York | Plumeri Sports Complex
W|L|S: Griffin Snyder (4-2) | Carter Wisely (6-5) | None
            David Kruis (2-1) | Colby Phelps (2-5) | None


KEY MOMENT:
Joe Morrone '22 provided the lone offense in game one for Elmira with a first-inning run-scoring hit.

David Kruis '23 entered game one in the bottom of the second inning and would close the contest.

Jourdan Plaisted '21 knotted the score in game two with a run-scoring single in the top of the ninth inning.

Colin McLaughlin '22 provided the eventual game-winning run as he would be hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
 

HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Soaring Eagles picked up where they left off on Saturday as EC took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning of game one. James Delaney '22 would get on base following an error and advanced to third after a groundout from Jared Money '22. Morrone put Elmira on top 1-0 with a single that allowed Delaney to score.

Sage responded with a run in the bottom of the first as Dillon Maxon tallied a single off of EC starter Carter Wisely '25 to knot the score 1-1. Wisely would get back-to-back outs to keep the game tied and strand a pair of Sage runners on base.

The Gators would take a 2-1 advantage in the bottom of the second inning before loading the bases against Wisely. Consecutive walks would push across two runs to increase Sage's lead to 6-1. Following a pitching change, Elmira would escape any further damage with a groundout to third.

Elmira had several chances with multiple runners on base but would be unable to push across another run against Sage starter Griffin Snyder. EC stranded eight runners on base against Snyder and the Gators in game one. Sage added three more runs to its lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as Jacob Coonan singled to give the Gators a 9-1 advantage.

Plaisted opened the scoring for the Purple & Gold with an RBI triple to score Luke Frontale '22 in the top of the second inning. Leading 5-1 entering the bottom of the third inning, Sage rallied for six runs to stretch its advantage to 9-1.

The Soaring Eagles found themselves trailing 13-1 entering the sixth inning before they would start to chip away at the deficit. Plaisted plated a run with a double in the sixth before McLaughlin followed with a two-run double to make it 13-4. A six-run seventh inning sparked a fire for the Soaring Eagles as McLaughlin and Money each delivered run-scoring hits to trim the deficit to 13-10.

Sage scored a run in the seventh to push the lead to four runs before Elmira answered again with three runs in the eighth inning to make it 14-13 entering the final inning of play. Plaisted recorded a two-run double in the frame that made it 14-12 before McLaughlin added a sacrifice fly to make it 14-13.

The tandem of Plaisted and McLaughlin would strike once again in the ninth as Plaisted plated Brett Warden '25 with a single to knot the score 14-14 before McLaughlin would be hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in the eventual game-winning run. Sage would get the potential tying run on base in the bottom of the frame before Kruis fanned back-to-back batters for Elmira to secure the victory.
 

STATS:
McLaughlin and Plaisted each finished game two with six runs batted in and set the program record for RBI in a single contest. Plaisted also matched the program record for hits in a single contest after going 5-for-5 at the plate.

Elmira worked nine walks in game two and had three different batters hit by Sage pitchers.

Frontale and Warden each scored four times for the Soaring Eagles in game two, finishing just one run shy of matching the single-game program record.
 

UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles will host Wells for a non-conference matchup on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. before traveling to face No. 1 seed St. John Fisher on Friday for a twin bill beginning at noon from Dugan Yard. The winner of the best-of-three series will advance to the championship round to face either Utica or Sage on Friday, May 13 at the highest remaining seed.