ROME, NY – The SUNYIT baseball team split a doubleheader with local rival Hamilton College in its home opener Wednesday, winning game one 2-1 before dropping game two 6-2.  The Wildcats are now 7-9 overall, while Hamilton stands at 4-10 on the year.

Due to the on-campus construction of both the $20 million field house and the new Wildcat Baseball Field, the contest was held at the Larry DeLutis Field in Rome, NY, which will be the site of all SUNYIT home games this season.

Game one saw some great pitching from both teams, as the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the sixth.  That's where senior Kevin Burr (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany) led off the inning with a single and, after getting to third on a single to left center by junior Anthony Surber (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills), was brought home on a sac fly by senior Dan Orza (Pleasant Valley, NY/Arlington).  Junior Michael McCrone (Whitney Point, NY/Hudson Valley CC) then drove Surber home on a single to left field to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.

Junior Anthony Osorio (Amsterdam, NY/Fulton-Montgomery CC) then came in to close things out in the seventh.  After registering two outs and two walks against the first four batters he faced, Osorio would give up an RBI single to Hamilton's Pat Gennaco but would shake it off by getting shortstop Wes Mayberry to fly out in the next at-bat to secure the save and give SUNYIT the victory.

Freshman M.J. Hajec (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) picked up the win on the mound, giving up two hits and walking two while striking out three in two innings of work.  Junior Patrick Baker (Ronkonkoma, NY/Connetequot) allowed two hits and registered four strikeouts in the first three innings of play.

Colin Henneberger had four strikeouts in four innings on the mound for Hamilton.

Hamilton struck first in game two with a run in the top of the first, but the Wildcats quickly took the lead in the bottom of the inning on sacrifice flies from both Orza and McCrone to go up 2-1.  But those would be the only runs the Wildcats would produce in the contest, while Hamilton put up two runs in both the third and fifth inning and another in the fourth to register the win and even out the doubleheader.

Lukas Bridenbeck and Kevin Prindle both drove in two runs for Hamilton, while Sam Choate went 2-for-2 at the plate with a double, two runs scored, two walks drawn and a stolen base.  Dan Kroening struck out four batters in three innings of relief.

The Wildcats will be back in action this weekend for a pair of NEAC doubleheaders, traveling to take on Gallaudet University on Saturday and Penn State Harrisburg on Sunday.  Both contests are scheduled to begin at noon.