TROY, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) baseball team opened its best-of-three Liberty League crossover series with a 6-3 victory over Ithaca this afternoon at Robison Baseball Field.
RPI grabbed the lead in the second inning when
Andrew Crux launched a solo home run to right field to make it 1-0. The Engineers added another in the third as
Walker Abdallah walked,
Charlie Morse laid down a bunt single, and after
Michael Lebenson loaded the bases with a single,
Matt Chotiner lifted a sacrifice fly to center to bring Abdallah home for a 2-0 advantage.
The decisive stretch came in the fifth, when RPI produced three runs while taking advantage of a defensive miscue. Lebenson reached on an error and moved into scoring position, setting the table for Chotiner's RBI double to right. Crux followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Lebenson, and
Alex Coombes doubled to right-center to drive in Chotiner before
Jorge Hitlin capped the inning with an RBI single to bring Coombes home and make it 5-0.
Ithaca got on the board in the sixth with a two-run homer to cut the margin to 5-2, and the Bombers added another in the seventh on a sacrifice fly to make it 5-3. RPI answered right back in the bottom of the seventh, as Coombes doubled down the left-field line and came around on
Stephen Koval's sacrifice fly for an important insurance run.
Coombes powered the offense, going 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, two runs scored, and an RBI. Lebenson reached base four times with two hits and two walks, while Chotiner drove in two with the RBI double and sacrifice fly and Crux added two RBI with the home run and sacrifice fly. Hitlin and Koval each drove in a run, and Abdallah finished with two hits and a walk while scoring once.
Garret Gates earned the win after working 6.0 innings and allowing two runs with three strikeouts. The bullpen trio of
Sam Ferrier,
Andrew Gaughan, and
Zac Zajac navigated the final three innings, with Zajac closing the door in the ninth to secure his seventh save of the season.
Game two is scheduled for Saturday at 12 p.m., with a third game to follow if necessary.
