ELMIRA, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College baseball team made history on Sunday afternoon as the No. 18 Cardinals won their 15th straight contest with a 13-9 win over Empire 8 opponent Elmira College at Dunn Field.  Fisher's 15 consecutive victories set a new program mark for the longest winning streak in team history, which surpassed the previous mark of 14 set in 2014.  The Cardinals closed out the day at 23-6 and remained unbeaten in conference play at 10-0.  Elmira is now 12-12 with the loss and 8-7 in the Empire 8 standings. 

Fisher used seven pitchers in all with Allen Murphy taking the ball to start. Murphy went four innings and allowed just one run on two hits while tallying strikeouts.  Kevin Berge gave up three unearned runs in two-thirds of an inning before being lifted by the eventual winning pitcher, Dillan Wilkinson.  Wilkinson moved to 2-0 with the decision and pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.  DJ Mendenhall and Caleb Lee combined to throw two scoreless inning while Jason Wasilnak was tagged for five runs (four earned) in two thirds of an inning.  Trevor Rumsey was called upon to get the final out.

The Cardinals opened up a two-run lead after plating a run in both the first and third innings before Elmira got on the board in the home half of the third with a run of its own. 

In the top of the fifth, Evan Ryan led off with a single to left and moved into scoring position after a failed pickoff attempt.  The next hitter, Justin Graham, was hit by a pitch and erased on a double play as Ryan moved to third.  Junior Scott Eisenmenger drew a walk before Jack Trotman followed suit to load the bases with two away.  Malcolm Kelsey carried over his strong performance from Saturday as the senior smacked a two-run single through the left side to extend Fisher's advantage to 4-1.

The lead was short-lived, though, as Elmira tied the score in the bottom of the inning with three runs on two hits and a Fisher error to knot things up at four runs apiece heading into the sixth. 

 With the score tied late, Fisher had one of its signature innings as the Cardinals erupted for six runs on four hits to put Elmira on the ropes.  Ryan led off the frame with a triple to left center while Graham and Ryan Fahy each followed with a walk to load the bases with no outs.  After the runners moved up on a wild pitch with Ryan scoring the go-ahead run, Eisenmenger reached on a throwing error while Graham scurried home to make it 6-4 in the Cardinals' favor.  As the inning continued, Trotman, Kelsey and Thomas Pasquale were each credited with an RBI hit as Fisher took a 10-4 lead.

The Cardinals weren't done there, however, as the team produced three more runs with three more hits in the eighth including a two-run single up the middle by Ryan to make it 13-4.

After escaping a jam in the top of the ninth without yielding a run, the Soaring Eagles made things interesting in the bottom of the frame with five runs before Fisher could retire the side en route to the record-breaking win. 

Fisher tallied 14 hits in all with Ryan leading the way after going 4-for-6 with four runs scored and two RBI.  Kelsey had three hits with three RBI while Pasquale collected three hits in six at-bats. 

The Cardinals will look to continue their momentum at 1 p.m. on Wednesday when they welcome the Soaring Eagles to Dugan Yard for an Empire 8 twin billing at Dugan Yard.