ELMIRA, N.Y. – Junior pitcher
Anthony Brophy turned in a gem as the St. John Fisher College baseball team posted its fifth straight win on Wednesday behind a 16-1 victory over Elmira College in an Empire 8 pairing at Dunn Field. With the win, Fisher now sits at 23-10 on the season and 9-4 in the Empire 8 standings while the Soaring Eagles fell to 4-25 overall and 1-12 against conference opponents.
Brophy moved to 4-1 on the year after the North Tonawanda native turned in five strong innings. Brophy allowed just one run on three hits and finished the game with three strikeouts.
Tim Geissel pitched two shutout innings while
Kyle Chambers and
Jack Delaney combined to pitch two scoreless frames.
In all, Fisher tagged Elmira's pitchers for 18 hits led by
Antony Mantova who was 4-for-4 on the day with a triple, and RBI and four runs scored.
Ryan Simmons had three hits in six at-bats with three RBI while
Ryan Brown went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored.
Allen Murphy had two hits and three more RBI in the win including his conference-leading ninth home run while
Thomas Pasquale and
Stephen Edgett finished the day with two hits apiece.
After three scoreless innings, Fisher got on the board in the top of the fourth with two runs on one hit and an Elmira error. Murphy worked a walk to begin the inning and moved to second after Mantova was drilled by a pitch. With two on and no outs, Simmons drove in a run with a single up the middle before Brown lifted a sacrifice fly to stake the visitors to a two-run edge.
Fisher blew the game wide open in the next inning after greeting a new pitcher with seven runs on seven hits to hold a 9-0 advantage. The inning began with
Justin Graham reaching on an infield error before moving to third on a single by Pasquale. With the heart of the order due up, Murphy ripped a run-scoring single through the right side before moving to third on a throwing error by the right fielder that allowed Pasquale to cross home plate. With a runner 90 feet away and one out, Mantova singled in a run and would move to third base on a single by Simmons. With runners at the corners,
Michael Beimel plated a run with a sacrifice fly and Brown drove in another run with a single to left center to make it 7-0. As the inning continued,
Jack Kelleher and Graham both got in on the action with an RBI each to make it a nine-run affair.
Elmira plated its only run of the game in the bottom of the fifth, but gave it right back in the top of the sixth as Simmons singled through the left side to score Mantova who produced a two-out single up the gut.
Ahead 10-1 in the top of the seventh, Fisher tacked on two more with Edgett collecting an RBI on a double before scoring on another error to make it 12-1.
The Cardinals capped their scoring with four more runs in the top of the ninth including a two-run bomb by Murphy to right center while Simmons and Pasquale each were credited with an RBI in the frame.
Fisher will go for its sixth consecutive win on Saturday when it hosts Utica College at Dugan Yard in an Empire 8 doubleheader. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
