ROME, NY – The SUNYIT baseball team suffered a hard-fought 2-1 loss during game one of a doubleheader to NEAC rival Penn State Berks Sunday, but rallied in game two to register a come-from-behind 4-3 victory and split the series with the Nittany Lions.  The Wildcats are now 6-2 in the NEAC West Division* and 15-11 overall, while Berks stands at 5-3 in conference play and 12-14 overall.

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 a classic pitching duel, as there were a total of three hits and 17 strikeouts recorded in the contest.  SUNYIT was doomed by two passed balls, however, as an unearned run was scored on one in the top of the third and another one in the fourth put Michael Werner on base after he struck out, which allowed him to later score on a sacrifice fly by Dillon Landrigan.

The Wildcats produced their lone run in the third when junior Anthony Surber (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills) drove home senior Lance Bull (Hudson Falls, NY/Hudson Falls), but were otherwise held in check offensively by Berks pitcher Zach Guiles, who threw a complete game one-hitter and finished with 10 strikeouts.

Despite the loss, sophomore Michael Rose (Chatham, NY/Hudson Valley CC) pitched a beauty, tossing a complete game two-hitter while striking out seven batters.  Sophomore John LeClair (Mohawk, NY/Cortland State) had SUNYIT's only hit and also stole two bases.

The Wildcats found themselves in trouble early on in game two, trailing 3-0 after four and a half innings of play after Kyle Hartman hit a solo home run in the second and two unearned runs were scored in the fourth.  SUNYIT would rally in the fifth, however, scoring four runs on four hits to take a 4-3 lead.  Senior Matt Wanner (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) got the scoring started with a sacrifice fly RBI that brought home classmate Ethan Marr (Roslyn, NY/Roslyn), and that would be followed by a two-run single to left field by junior pinch hitter Sam Quinn-Loeb (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg) and an RBI single by sophomore Chandler Evans (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford). 

Senior pitcher David Golembiowski (Barneveld, NY/Holland Patent) would then close the game out with two 1-2-3 innings to register his first save of the season and secure the victory for SUNYIT.

Surber allowed four hits and had one strikeout to earn his third victory on the mound.

The Wildcats will be back in action this Wednesday when they travel to take on conference rival SUNY Cobleskill for a doubleheader.  Game one is scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm.

*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.