It was a bitter-sweet Monday for the St. John Fisher College baseball program. Early in the afternoon, the Cardinals were awarded the No. 1 seed in this week's ECAC Division III Metro Championship and will receive a first-round bye in the seven-team tournament.
Later in the day however, the Cardinals lost a heart-breaker in their final game of the regular-season,
losing 7-6 in extra innings at University of Pittsburgh-Bradford.
Fisher will play the winner of No. 4 Stevens Institute of Technology vs. No. 5 Rutgers-Camden at 12 p.m. on Saturday in one semifinal at a site to be determined. The championship game will take play on Sunday (site/time - TBA).
Monday's loss to Pitt-Bradford marked yet another defeat that could have easily have gone the Cardinals' way. It was the eighth one-run loss this year for Fisher, and the sixth time it has been defeated in walk-off fashion.
Fisher led 2-1 after one inning, but didn't score again until the seventh. Fisher tied the game at 3-3 in the seventh inning, and 4-4 in the eighth, but came to bat in the ninth trailing by one run.
The Cardinals, however, managed to score two to take the lead. Pinch hitter
Dave VanGorder singled and pinch runner
Parker Ross scored the game-tying run on a double from
Ben Bostick. Bostick then scored the go-ahead run on a single up the middle from
Chris Roeder.
The Panthers, however, tied the game up with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and won the game in the 10th, scoring the game's final run on a bases-loaded walk.
ECAC Metro Championship
First Round – Wednesday, May 8
No. 2 SUNY Old Westbury (25-15-1) at No. 7 USMMA (19-16), 4:30 p.m.
No. 6 SUNY Purchase (21-17) at No. 3 Richard Stockton (23-18), 3:30 p.m.
No. 4 Stevens IT (23-17) at No. 5 Rutgers-Camden (22-18), 3:30 p.m.
Semifinals – Saturday, May 11th at Second Highest Remaining Seed
No. 1 St. John Fisher (26-13) vs. No. 4/No. 5 winner, Time TBD
No. 2/No. 7 winner vs. No. 3/No. 6 winner, Time TBD
Championship – Sunday, May 12th at Same Site of Semifinals
Two Semifinal Winners, Time TBD
