By Nate Discavage
ONEONTA, N.Y. — Two Syracuse Jr.. Chief pitchers combined to shut out the Oneonta Outlaws 1-0 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action Tuesday night at Damaschke Field.
Patrick Merryweather (Onondaga Community College) took the mound for the Syracuse. He pitched six innings and struck out six Outlaws. Merryweather improved to 3-1 on the season and lowered his ERA to 3.00.
“I just tried to keep the ball low and tried to work my breaking stuff in a little more with guys on second and third,” the 6’3 freshman out of Baldwinsville, New York said.
Thomas Eng (Adrian College) came on in relief to shut down the Outlaws for the final three innings. He struck out three in three innings pitched and earned his seventh save of the year.
“Pat Merryweather threw great and Tommy Eng has been lights out all year,” Syracuse coach, Chris Haynes said. “We were confident with those two guys in there and I thought they did a great job.”
Alec Romanowski (Stevenson College) and the Oneonta bullpen combined for a strong pitching performance as well. Romanowski pitched seven innings. He allowed one run to score on four scattered hits and struck out five. Romanowski lost his first start of the season (2-1) and lowered his ERA to 1.39.
Jaren Drummond (Grand Canyon University) and Daniel Farrell (Santa Ana College) each pitched a hitless inning to keep the game close at 1-0.
Syracuse’s lone run came in the top of the third when Brian Dudek (University of Buffalo) scored on Gabe Levanti’s (Northeastern) groundout to second.
Oneonta did not let the Jr. Chiefs walk away without a threat. The Outlaws left nine runners in scoring position and reached base in all but one inning.
Ramon Osuna Sanchez (College of Charleston) led the team offensively going 2-4 with a double and a walk. His double off the fence in right field would have gone for a home run in almost any other ballpark in the league.
Oneonta third baseman, Dan Fickas (University of South Carolina-Upstate) excelled at the hot corner snagging hard hit ground balls and throwing off balance for five assists and a putout. In the eighth inning, he made a beautiful diving stop and threw from his knees in foul territory to gun down Vinnie Mallaro (University of Buffalo).
The game was delayed in the bottom of the second inning when the stadium lights suddenly went out. There had been thunder and lightning on the horizon for a couple of minutes beforehand. Shortly after the lights went out, it started to rain. Forty-two minutes later, the lights were fixed, the rain had passed, and the players were back out on the field.
Outlaws’ Coach, Joe Hughes was disappointed in his team’s inability to score runs but was pleased to see his team’s pitching and defense improving.
“We’ve left a lot of runners in scoring position throughout the season so far and have scored one run in the last sixteen innings. Hopefully we can straighten things out,” Hughes said. “Defense is good, pitching is good, and if we can put all three parts of the game together, we can be pretty good.”
Oneonta (12-11) travels to Olean to play the Oilers (7-15) on Wednesday. The Jr. Chiefs (9-18)get on off day before facing off with the Power (14-10) at Sal Maglie Stadium in Niagara on Thursday.
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