The Keuka College Baseball team defeated Knox College 7-5 on Sunday morning to close their spring trip to Florida.
Mike Dutch (Manlius, N.Y. / Fayetteville-Manlius) had a big day for Keuka College (6-8, 0-3 Empire 8) with a single, a double, two runs batted in, and a run scored. Carlos Fantauzzi (Canandaigua, N.Y. / Canandaigua Academy) also had a single and a double in the game. He added a single RBI and scored a pair of runs. Hunter Corkran (North Syracuse, N.Y. / Cicero-North Syracuse) got the start on the mound and went six innings to get the win.
In the first inning, the Wolves took an early lead when Tyler Lewandowski (Milltown, N.J. / Spotswood) singled and advanced to third base on a single by Alex Evans (Liverpool, N.Y. / Liverpool). Lewandowski subsequently scored on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Wood (Newark, N.Y. / Newark), putting the Wolves up 1-0.
The second inning saw the Prairie Fire respond with four runs, but the Wolves kept the pressure on as Carlos Fantauzzi led off with a double and then moved to third and scored on a pair of groundouts, reducing the deficit to 4-2.
In the third inning, the Wolves continued to chip away at the Knox lead. After Lewandowski walked and stole second, Evans singled, advancing Lewandowski to third. A caught stealing erased Lewandowski, but Evans later scored on a double by Derke Novicki (North Haven, Conn. / North Haven) making the score 4-3.
The game witnessed a turning point in the sixth inning when Keuka’s offense exploded for four runs. Kyle Wood led off with a triple and scored on a single by Carlos Fantauzzi. Subsequent singles by Mike Dutch, who also scored, and Michael Brown (Elmira, N.Y. / Thomas A. Edison) contributed to an offensive surge that put the Wolves ahead 7-5, where the score remained for the rest of the game.
KC Notes:
- The Wolves avenged their loss to Knox in Florida last year and improved to 2-1 all-time against the Prairie Fire
- It was the second time this week that Mike Dutch had two hits and two RBIs in a game for the Wolves
- Hunter Corkran earned his second win of the week as well. He matched his outing on Tuesday with six innings pitched and three strikeouts
- Mason Smith (Corning, N.Y. / Corning-Painted Post) pitched the final three innings for the Wolves to get his first career save. Smith allowed just two hits and struck out a pair over three scoreless innings of relief
Up Next for Keuka College: The Wolves will fly back home Sunday night and start to prepare for a stretch of 12 straight Empire 8 Conference games. The run of league play will begin next weekend as Keuka College plays a three-game series at St. John Fisher University.
