HOBOKEN, N.J. – The St. John Fisher College baseball team was unable to hold a late-inning lead on Thursday as the second-seeded Cardinals fell to third-seeded Ithaca College, 17-11, at Dobbelaar Field in the opening round of the Empire 8 Championship.  With the loss, Fisher moved to 26-15 on the season while the Bombers advanced into the championship's winner's bracket and will face top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon.
 
Fisher will look to keep its championship hopes alive at 10 a.m. on Saturday when it square off with fourth-seeded Houghton College in an elimination contest.
 
The Cardinals were first to score as Ryan Fahy ripped a double down the left field line that scored Scott Eisenmenger to give Fisher a 1-0 advantage heading to the top of the third. 
 
The lead would be short-lived, however, as Ithaca put together a four-run third after belting four hits including two-run double to open up a 4-1 edge.
 
After extending its cushion to four runs in the top of the fourth, Ithaca couldn't get out of the inning unscathed as the Cardinals roared back to tie the game at 5-5 with four runs of their own.  Eisenmenger got the inning going with a solo shot to right to make it a three-run affair before Ryan Simmons and Allen Murphy kept the rally alive with back-to-back walks.  With two on and two outs, Victor Konstantinovsky stepped in and blasted a three-run shot to right to even things up at five runs apiece.
 
A solo shot in the sixth staked the Bombers to a one-run lead, but Fisher answered in the home half of the frame with two runs on three hits.  Eisenmenger once again led off with a hit up the middle and moved to third when Murphy crushed a double to right center.  Fahy came up with another big hit as the senior smacked a two-run single down the line to make it 7-6, Fisher.
 
Leading by a run in the seventh inning, the Cardinals turned to their bullpen.  After recording two quick outs, the tides turned as Ithaca strung together eight runs on four hits to take a 14-7 lead.
 
Fisher would get three back in the bottom of the seventh when Fahy lifted a three-run homer to right, but Ithaca pushed its lead back to six runs with a bases-clearing double in the eighth.
 
Anthony Brophy started the game and went six innings as the sophomore gave up six runs (five earned) on eight hits with a pair of strikeouts.  Matt Toohey was credited with the loss (2-1) after yielding four runs on two hits in two-thirds of an inning.  Jack Delaney surrendered three runs before Dillan Wilkinson pitched the final 2.1 innings with four runs crossing the plate in all.
 
Fahy was a bright spot for the team offensively after going 3-for-6 with walk, a double, a home run, six RBI and two runs scored.  Murphy had three hits in five at-bats while Eisenmenger went 2-for-4 at the dish with a home run, and three runs scored.