Hobart Splits Sunday Doubleheader With Ithaca

The Hobart baseball team split a doubleheader with Ithaca at McDonough Park Sunday afternoon. The Bombers rallied for five runs in the ninth inning to win Game 1 12-9 while Hobart took Game 2 13-3 in eight innings.

FOR THE RECORD

• Hobart ended the day with a 17-15 overall record, including a 7-11 mark in Liberty League play.
• Ithaca moved to 22-12 overall, 14-5 in the conference.

HOW IT HAPPENED: Game 1

• Four times Hobart took the lead on Ithaca in the opener and each time the Bombers rallied to tie the game before seizing its first and only lead in the top of the ninth.
• In the first, the Statesmen cashed in on three Ithaca errors to score a pair of runs.
• The Bombers tied the game in the fourth.
• In the fifth, Jack Byrnes and Jack Farnen delivered back-to-back singles and Christian Petry drew a walk to load the bases with no outs.
• Connor Schmiedlin was hit by a pitch to force in a run then Nate Johnson looped an RBI single down the left field line. With one out, Jackson Fowle earned a bases loaded walk to make it 5-2.
• With two outs, Owen Sanders bounced a chopper to third base for what should have been the final out, but Johnson got a great jump from second and beat the third baseman to the bag to allow another run to score.
• The Bombers answered with four runs on four hits, including a two-run double to left center by Andrew McDermott, in the top of the fifth.
• Hobart reclaimed the lead on Cole Conte’s RBI double in the seventh, but Ithaca again answered.
• McDermott led off the top of the eight with a double and then moved to third and scored on wild pitches.
• The Statesmen made their final surge into the lead thanks to Sean Garvin’s two-run double in the bottom of the eighth.
• The Bombers took the lead in the ninth thanks to three walks, a hit-by-pitch and Colin Feeney’s two-run double to right that gave the visitors a 10-9 lead.
• Jack Colyer pitched the eighth for Ithaca and was credited with the win, while Dan Kellachan pitched around a leadoff single by Byrnes to earn the save.

FOR THE STATESMEN

• Garvin, Conte and Byrnes each collected two hits in the game. Both of Garvin’s hits were doubles.
• Hobart starter Cole Tarrant threw five innings, allowed four hits and two runs while striking out a career-high eight.

FOR THE BOMBERS

• McDermott, Riley Brawdy and Colin Dunn each had two hits for the visitors.

HOW IT HAPPENED: GAME 2

• Senior Griffin Snyder started Game 2 for Hobart and lasted six innings. He scattered six hits, allowing just two runs while striking out three. He left the game with the Statesmen holding a 3-2 lead and the bullpen made the advantage hold up.
• Sophomore Garrett Grubbs pitched the final two innings and allowed only one unearned run.
• At the plate, Hobart seized a 1-0 lead in the first on Garvin’s RBI fielder’s choice.
• The Statesmen added to their lead with two in the third, but Ithaca answered with two in the fifth.
• Hobart broke the game open in the seventh when O’Neil’s two-run double and Johnson’s RBI single made it a 6-2 game.
• The Statesmen walked it off in the eighth (almost literally). Ithaca’s bullpen lost the strike zone, issuing eight walks, including four with the bases loaded, as Hobart scored seven runs to invoke the 10-run mercy rule. Sanders delivered the final blow with a two-run single to left.

FOR THE STATESMEN

• O’Neil was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs in the second game.
• Sanders was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs.

PLAYER’S PERSPECTIVE

Postgame interview with winning pitcher Griffin Snyder: https://youtu.be/_m2M4bDg11o?si=9yVNfY-fFy3vOETL

MEET IN THE MIDDLE MONDAY

• Hobart and Clarkson will play a makeup game on Monday, April 28 at 4:30 p.m. at Jefferson Community College in Watertown.
• The Statesmen and Knights split a doubleheader on April 4, but had a single game rained out on April 5.
• The Statesmen are currently tied with Rochester for fourth place in the Liberty League West. The top four teams in the division make the Liberty League Crossover Series next weekend.
• The Yellowjackets have a make-up game scheduled with St. Lawrence on Tuesday. The Saints are a game behind Hobart and Rochester in the West.

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