HORSEHEADS, N.Y. – A six-run bottom of the eighth inning fueled the Elmira College baseball program to its first Empire 8 Conference victory of the season on Friday afternoon as the Soaring Eagles rallied for a 9-3 triumph against the Medaille University Mavericks at The Point.
 

GAME INFORMATION:
SCORE: Elmira 9, Medaille 3
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (4-16, 1-6 Empire 8), Medaille (6-14, 0-4 Empire 8)
LOCATION: Horseheads, New York | Holding Point Recreation Complex
W|L|S: D. Kruis (W, 1-6) | J. Gutierrez (L, 0-3) | None


HOW IT HAPPENED:
Jarek Podest '26 would get the start on the mound for the Soaring Eagles and retired each of the first six batters that he faced in the contest including five consecutive strikeouts. Medaille would eventually breakthrough against Podest and the Soaring Eagles with a pair of runs in the fourth inning to take a 2-0 advantage. A sacrifice fly would give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead before an infield groundout pushed across the second run of the frame.
 
The Purple & Gold offense would get going in the bottom of the fifth inning as Jared Money '22 singled through the right side of the infield to bring home a runner and make it 2-1. Elmira knotted the score at 2-2 in the sixth inning as a sacrifice fly from Jarod Signorelli '23 allowed Kade Cochran '26 to score on the play for the Soaring Eagles.
 
Both sides would plate a run in the seventh inning as the Mavericks grounded into a double play with a runner on third and no outs, which allowed the visitors to regain the lead 3-2. With Brett Warden '25 on second base to open the bottom of the frame, Matteo Salvati '25 laced a double that allowed Warden to score and even things up at 3-3.
 
Warden would provide the eventual game-winning run for Elmira with a double in the bottom of the eighth that gave the Soaring Eagles their first lead of the contest. Jacob Parker '25 followed with a single that allowed two runners to score and increase the advantage to 6-3. Logan Pizzullo '25 joined the fun with a single of his own to push the lead to 7-3 before Chris Jones '25 would be hit with the bases loaded to make it 8-3. A single from Signorelli through the right side of the infield capped the scoring at 9-3 for Elmira.
 
Podest received a no-decision for Elmira after allowing a pair of runs through four innings of work. Podest recorded seven strikeouts to go along with a pair of walks and two hits allowed, while Matthew Schultz '26 tossed three innings out of the bullpen and yielded an unearned run off two hits. David Kruis '23 notched his first win of the season after tossing a pair of clean frames with a trio of strikeouts for the Soaring Eagles.
 

UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles return to the diamond on Saturday for a pair of games against Medaille at the Holding Point beginning at 1:00 P.M. EC will hold its Class of 2023 Recognition on Saturday following game one of the doubleheader.