ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Elmira College baseball team traveled to Rochester, NY for a conference doubleheader against the Cardinals of St. John Fisher University. The Soaring Eagles earned a split in the conference opening series against St. John Fisher, winning game one 13-12, and dropping game two 18-4.
 
GAME ONE: Offense Explodes for 13 Runs in Victory
The Soaring Eagles got off to a strong start when Kaden Bolt doubled as the first batter of the game. Bolt later advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored the game's first run on a sacrifice fly by Jordan Barthel. The Cardinals responded with a run in the bottom of the first and four more in the bottom of the second. Alex Dinicola started the third off with a single for Elmira. Later in the inning, Barthel launched a ball over the fence for a two-run home run, his fourth consecutive game with a home run, to make the score 5-3. The Cardinals got two runners on with one out in the bottom of the third. Barthel, the starting pitcher as well, got a pair of fly outs to get out of the inning with no damage. Connor Stone doubled and CJ Wheaton singled to get EC going in the fourth. A Sean Deaner sacrifice fly brought Stone into score and cut the deficit to one run. Dinicola followed that with a single that drove Wheaton home and tied up the score at five. Bolt came up next and sent the ball over the wall for a two-run shot, giving the Soaring Eagles the lead 7-5. St. John Fisher threatened again in the fourth with two runners in scoring position, but a strikeout and fly out helped Barthel escape. 
 
The Cardinals responded with four runs in the bottom of the fifth to move in front 9-7. Xander Canfield singled with one out in the seventh to try to take momentum back for EC. Nicholas Miller and Brady Buttice followed that with walks to load up the bases with one out. A two out single by Wheaton drove in two runs and tied up the game at nine. The Cardinals answered back with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to retake the advantage 11-9. The Soaring Eagles loaded the bases again in the eighth inning when a Dinicola walk was followed by Bolt getting hit by a pitch and a Canfield walk. Matthew Schultz was hit by a pitch as well to force home a run and make the score 11-10. EC was unable to add any more runs in the inning. The Cardinals added an insurance run in the bottom half to make the score 12-10. Elmira got a couple runners on by error in the ninth and a single from Dinicola brought Wheaton into score, cutting the deficit to one. Bolt also reached on an error that brought Gabriel Schultz into score the tying run. Canfield hit a sacrifice fly, driving home Dinicola, to give EC the advantage late 13-12. Michael Polsinelli Jr. came in to pitch, gave up a lead-off double, but escaped the jam to earn the save and the win for EC 13-12.
 
LEADERS
Offensively, Dinicola led the way, going 3-4 with four runs scored and a trio of RBIs. Bolt went 2-4, including a double and home run, tallying two runs scored, and totaling three RBIs. Wheaton went 2-4, notching two runs score and two RBIs, while stealing two bases.

GAME TWO: Soaring Eagles Fall Short in Game Two
The Cardinals got the scoring started in this one with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Buttice doubled to start EC off in the second and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Canfield. St. John Fisher responded with two more runs in the bottom half, pushing their advantage to 5-1. Dinicola walked leading off the third for Elmira. He stole second a few batters later and followed by advancing to third. Barthel lined a double to bring Dinicola into score and cut the deficit to three runs. The Cardinals answered back with six runs in the bottom of the third to make the score 11-2. A pair of walks to Stone and Canfield gave the Soaring Eagles some momentum in the fourth. Stone brought home the Soaring Eagles third run, scoring on a groundout by Brenden McGar. St. John Fisher added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth as they moved in front by ten.

Bolt walked and Wheaton singled to get Elmira going in the fifth. EC tallied another run when Bolt came into score on an error. Despite loading the bases in the inning, Elmira was unable to push across any more runs. The Cardinals followed up with two more runs to move the score to 15-4. In the sixth, EC had a pair of runners on base but could not score any runs. The Cardinals tallied three more runs in the sixth and closed out the contest, St. John Fisher winning game two 18-4.

LEADERS
Offensively, Barthel led the way, going 1-2 with a double and notching an RBI. Bolt went 1-3 with a run scored. Buttice was 1-2 at the plate, recording a double and a run scored.

UP NEXT
The Soaring Eagles return to action in Rochester, NY on Sunday March 22^nd for the third game of the series against St. John Fisher. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 PM.