PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher baseball team fell 20-11 to Ithaca on Monday afternoon in its home opener at Dugan Yard. The Cardinals fell to 8-9 on the season, while the Bombers improved to 10-7. 

How It Happened 

The Cardinals made four errors – all of which led to runs – and walked 11 Ithaca batters in the ballgame, which featured 31 runs and 28 hits between the teams and lasted well more than three hours. 

The Bombers scored four runs in the first inning, but the Cardinals responded with three of their own, with two coming on freshman Austin Droge's double, in the bottom of the frame. Ithaca, which plated a run in all but three innings, pushed another across in the second. The Cardinals again struck back the next half-inning to cut their deficit to one, as Noah Pohrte scored on a Mario Cubello single. 

After Ithaca scored twice in the top of the third to take a 7-4 lead, Andrew Roman doubled home Jordan Perry in the bottom half of the inning to make it 7-5. Droge, who finished with three hits and four RBI, smacked his first collegiate home run in the fourth to bring the Cardinals within one, 7-6. 

Trailing 9-6 in the bottom of the sixth, the first three Fisher batters of the inning walked to load the bases. Ithaca's Sean Kelly came on in relief of Jack Colyer and wiggled out of the jam, quickly striking out his first two batters before getting Roman to ground out to second. 

The Bombers then took full control of the game with a seven-run seventh, which Fisher aided with an error that led to three runs. Riley Brawdy hit a two-run home run that gave Ithaca an 11-9 lead at the beginning of the rally. 

Ithaca added four more runs in the eighth 

Up Next

The Cardinals face Keuka College in a three-game series this weekend at Dugan Yard.