RANDALL'S ISLAND, NY – The SUNYIT baseball team allowed just eight hits and rapped out 21 hits of its own to sweep a doubleheader against the City College of New York Saturday, winning game one 7-2 and game two 6-1. The Wildcats improved to 6-8 overall, while CCNY fell to 2-14 on the year.
The Wildcats came out swinging in game one, totaling 16 hits on 35 at-bats, while their strong pitching forced CCNY to go 3-for-23 at the plate. SUNYIT went up early, scoring three runs in the first on a sacrifice fly from junior Michael McCrone (Whitney Point, NY/Hudson Valley CC) and RBI singles from sophomore Chandler Evans (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) and freshman Jim Sass (Kingston, NY/Kingston). Another run would score in the top of the second on an RBI double from junior Anthony Surber (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills), and three insurance runs were scored in the top of the six to seal the victory.
Senior Ethan Marr (Roslyn, NY/Roslyn) recorded his first win of the season, striking out four batters in four innings of work. Sophomore John LeClair (Mohawk, NY/Cortland State), the reigning NEAC Student-Athlete of the Week, finished 4-for-5 at the plate with two doubles, two runs scored, two stolen bases and an RBI, while Evans went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI at the plate and struck out two batters in two innings on the mound.
Chris Loundsbury and Andrew Romanella each scored a run for CCNY, while Raymie Fernandez had two hits.
Although the Wildcats weren't as efficient at the plate in game two, they made the most of their five hits to pull out the win. CCNY struck first this time, scoring a run in bottom of the third after two innings of scoreless play to go up 1-0. SUNYIT came alive from there, scoring its first two runs in the top of the fourth on an RBI single from Anthony Barnao (Ticonderoga, NY/Ticonderoga) and a sacrifice fly from Jhomel Solano (Bronx, NY/Cristo Rey). The Wildcats would score a run in each of the next two innings, and they would seal the deal with two runs in the seventh after Sass crossed home plate on a wild pitch and Solano drove in another run on an RBI single to center field.
Surber pitched a six-inning gem, allowing one run on four hits while striking out two and walking one to record the win.
Fernandez drove home CCNY's only run with an RBI double on his only hit of the contest, while Romanella finished 2-for-3 with one run scored.
The Wildcats will be back in action this Saturday, March 26 when they host Oswego State for a doubleheader in their first home outing of the season. Due to the on-campus construction of both the $20 million Field House and the new baseball field, SUNYIT will play this and all other home games this season at the Larry DeLutis Field in Rome, NY. Directions can be found here.