COBLESKILL, NY – SUNYIT junior Patrick Baker (Ronkonkoma, NY/Connetequot) set the program record for career strikeouts in one of two strong pitching performances that guided the SUNYIT baseball team past SUNY Cobleskill during a conference doubleheader Thursday, winning game one 2-1 and game two 2-0. The Wildcats are now 8-2 in the NEAC West* and are off to one of their best overall starts at 17-11 on the year, while Cobleskill fell to 2-8 in the NEAC West and 4-14 overall.
The Wildcats, who are currently ranked eighth in the nation in earned run average and 13th in hits allowed per nine innings, allowed a total of just nine hits and no earned runs during the sweep. It began with six strong innings from Baker, who entered the contest needing one strikeout to past Mike Brown (1997-99) for first in program history and quickly did so with a strikeout in the first inning. He finished with five on the day, while giving up six hits and one unearned run to earn his team-best fifth win of the year. Junior Anthony Osorio (Amsterdam, NY/Fulton-Montgomery CC) took the mound in the seventh with two runners on base, but put together a 1-2-3 inning that consisted of a strikeout and two ground outs to record his team-best third save of the year.
The Wildcats scored the first run of the game in the top of the third on a sac fly by sophomore John LeClair (Mohawk, NY/Cortland State) that brought home senior Lance Bull (Hudson Falls, NY/Hudson Falls). Bull then put SUNYIT up 2-0 with an RBI single in the seventh, and Baker was able to seal the deal in the bottom of the frame despite Cobleskill scoring an unearned run in the inning.
Bull finished 2-for-3 at the plate, while sophomore Chandler Evans (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) went 2-for-2 and drew a walk.
The Wildcats got another tremendous pitching performance in game two by junior Jake Ross (Vernon Center, NY/Rome Catholic), who tossed a three-hitter through five and two thirds innings while registering 10 strikeouts, which was the third most in a game by a Wildcat in the last decade. SUNYIT got the two runs it needed in the first inning on RBI singles by Evans and freshman Jim Sass (Kingston, NY/Kingston), and senior David Golembiowski (Barneveld, NY/Holland Patent) would earn his second save of the season with one and two thirds innings of scoreless relief.
Evans finished 3-for-3 at the plate, while senior Dan Orza (Pleasant Valley, NY/Arlington) went 2-for-4 with a double and one run scored.
The Wildcats will be back in action on Sunday when they travel to take on NEAC rival Keuka College 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.