ROME, NY – Junior pitcher Patrick Baker (Ronkonkoma, NY/Connetequot) pitched a complete game two-hitter to lead the SUNYIT baseball team to its seventh straight victory with a 3-1 win over the visiting Penn State Abington Nittany Lions in game one of a doubleheader Saturday. SUNYIT's win streak would be snapped with a 4-1 loss in game two, however, placing them at 5-1 in the NEAC West Division* and 14-10 overall. Abington now stands at 5-1 in the NEAC West and 11-16 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.
In what will most likely be a back-and-forth battle for first place in the SUNYIT record books all season, Baker tied senior teammate Ethan Marr (Roslyn, NY/Roslyn) for most career wins in program history after registering his fourth victory of the season and tenth of his career, with Marr recording his tenth career victory last weekend. Additionally, Baker's three strikeouts on the day gives him a team-best 21 on the year and leaves him tied with Mike Brown (1997-99) for first all-time in career Ks, with Marr just one strikeout behind the both of them.
Baker was helped by his offense right off the bat, as the Wildcats scored twice in the first inning on an unearned run by sophomore John LeClair (Mohawk, NY/Cortland State) after an Abington fielding error and an RBI double by junior Michael McCrone (Whitney Point, NY/Hudson Valley CC) that extended his hit streak to 14 games.
After Abington put a run on the board in the top of the fifth to make it 2-1, an RBI single from LeClair in the bottom of the sixth once again gave SUNYIT a two-run lead, and Baker then closed out the game with a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh.
Marr unfortunately could not once again claim first in career wins after suffering the loss in game two, giving up four runs (three earned) on three hits in three innings of work. Most of the damage came in the third inning, where a close call at third left runners on first and third with no outs. Will Erskine would then hit an RBI single to right center that put the Lions up 2-0, and two more runs would eventually score on a sacrifice bunt by pitcher Daniel Hill and an RBI single by Mike Kerns.
The Wildcats would score a run in the bottom of the inning when senior Kevin Burr (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany) was brought home by McCrone after he reached first on a fielder's choice, but SUNYIT could not produce any more runs the rest of the way and would suffer defeat. McCrone's hit streak also came to an end after he finished 0-for-2.
Hill tossed a complete game two-hitter for Abington and held SUNYIT's offense in check with nine strikeouts. Dustin Kology scored two runs and stole a base.
Junior pitcher Jake Ross (Vernon Center, NY/Rome Catholic) allowed three hits and had four strikeouts in four innings of relief for SUNYIT.
The Wildcats will be back in action tomorrow for another conference doubleheader, as they will host Penn State Berks at noon.
*Beginning with the 2010 season, North Atlantic Conference (NAC) members Castleton, Husson, Lyndon State, Maine-Farmington and Thomas will play in the NEAC as associate members in the East Division. Each division will hold a championship and the two divisional champions will meet for a three-game series to determine the conference champion. The conference winner will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.