SYRACUSE, NY — The Syracuse Jr. Chiefs split a doubleheader against the Oneonta Outlaws in a matchup featuring two of the top teams in the New York Collegiate Baseball League this summer. The Jr. Chiefs won game one, a continuation of a suspended game from June 29th, 7-3, before dropping game two 8-5.
Oneonta gained an early advantage in game two, using small-ball to push a run across the plate against Jr. Chiefs starter Michael Bittel (Seton Hill U).
Bittel walked the first two batters of the game on eight pitches. Brian Kraft (Grand Canyon U) moved the runners over with a sacrifice fly. Brandon Stephens (Georgia U of) drilled a sacrifice fly to bring in Jake Levine (Brown U). Bittel settled down and escaped the inning with the Jr. Chiefs only down by one.
Syracuse answered with a two-run inning in the bottom of the second against Outlaws starter Luke Crumley (University of Georgia).
Brian Burns (Ithaca Col) singled with one out, but was quickly erased after getting caught attempting to steal second, but Crumley hit Aaron Pigna (Ave Maria) to put a man on first with two outs. He advanced to third and Noel Garcia (Northwood U) reached base after an error by Outlaws shortstop Ryan Tomita (Grand Canyon U).
Gary Jones (Delaware U of) followed with an RBI single and Garcia scored later in the inning, giving the Jr. Chiefs a 2-1 lead.
The Outlaws responded in a big way the following inning, exploding for four runs in the top of the third.
Levine started the rally for the Outlaws with a one-out single and advanced to second on a wild pitch from Bittel. Mitch Hollander (SUNY Cortland) singled to put men on the corners for number-three hitter Brian Kraft (Grand Canyon U).
Levine scored on Kraft’s fielder’s choice and advanced to second on Stephens’ single. Josh Treff (Northeastern U) followed with an RBI single, putting the Outlaws back on top 3-2.
Oneonta added a fourth run on Heath Holder’s (Georgia St U) RBI single and tacked on one more after a single from Howard Joe (Mercer U), making the score 5-2 in favor of the Outlaws.
Crumley (W, 7 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 K) and Bittel (L, 5.2 IP, 6 G, 8 H, 2 BB, 2 K) matched zeroes for two innings before Oneonta tacked on their sixth run of the game in the top of the sixth.
Bittel retired Holder to lead off the inning, but allowed a one-out double to Howard Joe (Mercer/2-3, 2 R). Joe came around to score when Spencer Duffie (Mercer U) followed with an RBI single.
The Jr. Chiefs starter would retire the next batter he faced, but exited the game in favor of Alan Komorowski (Washington U) with two outs. The lefty walked Levine and Hollander before retiring Kraft to end the inning, leaving the Outlaws with the bases loaded.
The Outlaws tacked on two more insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning against Komorowski, increasing their lead to 8-2, but the Jr. Chiefs rallied in the bottom of the eighth cut the lead down to three.
Connor Mathis (Mt Union Col), Alex Caruso (St Johns U), and Pat Wright (Le Moyne Col) led off the inning with back-to-back-to-back singles against new Outlaws pitcher Tsuyoshi Horibata (Binghamton U). Horibata managed to record two outs without giving up a run, but was unable to escape the inning unscathed.
Pigna came up with a clutch two-run single, cutting the Jr. Chiefs deficit to three. Pigna’s single marked the end for Horibata, as he was replaced by Brandon Agar (North Georgia Col & St U). Agar recovered and shutdown the Jr. Chiefs for the remainder of the game, securing an 8-5 victory for the Outlaws.
The Jr. Chiefs vaunted offense lifted them to a 7-3 victory in game one, a continuation from a suspended game dating back to June 29th. Before action was suspended in the fifth inning, Syracuse got things going right off the bat when Mathis led the game off with a single.
Caruso moved Mathis to second with a sacrifice and Kenny Hostrander (Eastern Kentucky U) followed with a single. Stanley Susana (St Thomas Aquinas Col) came up with men on first and second, but bounced into a fielder’s choice.
Wright singled to load the bases and Burns drew a walk to bring the game’s first run.
Connor Martin drove in the game’s second run after an error by Tomita. Susana scored on the play and the Jr. Chiefs owned a 2-0 lead.
The Jr. Chiefs would increase their lead to five with a three run inning in the third. Wright started Syracuse’s rally with a one-out single. Burns doubled to plate Wright, increasing the Jr. Chiefs lead to three.
After Connor Martin (Clarkson U) was hit by a pitch from Outlaws starter Malcolm Purdy (Grand Canyon U), John Cialone (Villanova U) singled to load the bases for Pigna.
Pigna singled and plated Burns, spelling the end of the night for Purdy (L, 2.1 IP, 5 R, 8 H, 1 BB, 1K). Holder entered the game, and allowed the Jr. Chiefs to score a fifth run after a sacrifice fly from Mathis.
Jr. Chiefs starter Jordan Fuller (Seton Hill U) had shutdown Oneonta for the game’s first three innings, but ran in to some trouble in the bottom of the fourth.
Fuller (W, 4 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K) walked Kraft to lead off the inning and allowed Chris Pindar (SUNY Oneonta) to follow with a single.
Fuller seemed to recover after retiring the following two hitters, but hit Howard Joe (Mercer U) with two outs to load the bases. Evan Harasta (Albany U of) singled in two runs and a third run scored on the play after a Jr. Chiefs error, bringing Oneonta within two.
The Jr. Chiefs did not wait long and added two runs in the top of the fifth inning. Holder walked Burns and Martin to lead off the inning, but struck out Cialone for out number one.
Pigna bounced in to a fielder’s choice, putting men on the corners for the Jr. Chiefs and only one out. Holder (2.1 IP, 2 R, 0 H, 3 BB, 1 K) was taken out of the game in favor of Horibata.
Mathis greeted Horibata with an RBI double, scoring Burns and moving Pigna to third. Pigna would score on a passed ball and then the game was suspended.
Play resumed in the top of the fifth on Sunday and Alec Romanowski (Stevenson U) entered the game with inherited base runners on second and third with two outs. Romanowski (2.1 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 0 K) retired Hostrander to end the inning and held Syracuse scoreless for the remainder of the game.
Patrick Merryweather relieved Fuller and held the Outlaws scoreless over the final three frames, only allowing one hit in the process of securing the victory for the Jr. Chiefs.
The Jr. Chiefs kept a solid handle on second place by splitting the doubleheader, moving to 19-12 for the season. The Outlaws will stay in third place with a 18-12 record, just a half-game behind Syracuse.
The two teams meet again on Monday when the Jr. Chiefs host the Outlaws at NBT Bank Field in Syracuse. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
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