The Keuka College Baseball team kept their hopes of making the Empire 8 Conference Tournament alive on Thursday by earning a split in their conference doubleheader at SUNY Poly.
Keuka College (13-20, 7-14 Empire 8) dropped game one to SUNY Poly 7-2, but rallied to defeat the Wildcats 8-5.
SUNY Poly 7 vs. Keuka College 2 – Game 1
The Wolves took the lead in the opener in the third inning. Ian Ruhmel (Horseheads, N.Y. / Horseheads) led the inning off with a walk. Tyler Lewandowski (Milltown, N.J. / Spotswood) followed with a single and they were bunted over by Alex Evans (Liverpool, N.Y. / Liverpool). Ruhmel scored on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Wood (Newark, N.Y. / Newark) for the 1-0 lead.
That lead was brief, however, as SUNY Poly led off the bottom of the inning with a solo home run to tie the game. They then added four runs in the next inning with three coming on a home run to take a 5-1 lead over the Wolves.
The advantage extended to six for the hosts as SUNY Poly scored two more in the bottom of the fifth. The Wolves got one back in the sixth as Carlos Fantauzzi (Canandaigua, N.Y. / Canandaigua Academy) had a two-out single. He scored from first on a double by Derek Novicki (North Haven, Conn. / North Haven), but that would be as close as the Wolves would make it as Keuka College fell 7-2 in game one.
Keuka College 8 at SUNY Poly 5 – Game 2
SUNY Poly took the lead in the bottom of the second inning with a run, but the Wolves bounced right back in the top of the third for four runs. Ian Ruhmel led the inning off with a walk, turning the lineup over. Three straight singles by Alex Evans, Kyle Wood, and Carlos Fantauzzi gave the Wolves the lead. After a bunt, a groundout by John Valinoti (Babylon, N.Y. / Babylon) scored a run. Jackson Loper (Riverhead, N.Y. / Riverhead) followed with an RBI single as the Wolves took a 4-1 lead.
The Keuka offense was stuck on four runs for a while, but that was fine as starting pitcher Wyatt Ernst (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan / Holy Cross) was in control. He kept the SUNY Poly batters off balanced all day, pitching into the seventh inning allowing just one earned run and striking out three.
SUNY Poly would cut it to a one run game in the seventh and looked to tie the game, but Carlos Fantauzzi threw the ball from right field to Zach Keck (De Soto, Mo. / De Soto) at home to tag the tying runner out at the plate to end the inning.
The Wolves carried the momentum into the eighth. Tyler Lewandowski led off with a double, and Ian Ruhmel followed with a bunt single. The Wolves got a run as a bunt by Alex Evans was misplayed by the Wildcats. A walk loaded the bases for Keuka and Carlos Fantauzzi brought two home on a single up the middle. One more came in as Keuka College extended its lead to 8-3.
SUNY Poly loaded the bases to start the bottom of the inning. Keuka College went to the bullpen, bringing in Keegan Ferris (Elbridge, N.Y / Jordan Elbridge). Ferris got a groundball in his first batter faced, trading two outs for one run as the Wolves turned a double play. Poly got one more run, but Ferris got another groundout to end the inning with Keuka leading 8-5.
Keuka took that lead into the bottom of the ninth. SUNY Poly put two on to start the inning, bringing the tying run to the plate with no outs. Ferris got the next batter to fly out to left for the first out. He then got his second double play in as many innings as the Wolves went 4-6-3 to end the game with a Keuka College victory.
KC Notes:
- Keuka College snapped a five-game losing streak to SUNY Poly with their win in game two. The Wolves are now 15-21 all-time against the Wildcats
- 11 of Keuka’s 13 wins have come away from their home field, tying for the second-most road/neutral site wins in program history
- Carlos Fantauzzi drove in three runs in game two. He now has 34 RBIs on the season and 68 in his career. The senior tied his 2024 total for fourth-most in program history. He also moved into sole possession of fifth for RBIs in a career, playing in just two seasons at Keuka College
- With hits in both ends of the doubleheader, Fantauzzi set a new career best with a nine-game hitting streak
- Keegan Ferris pitched the final two innings of game two for the Wolves, earning his first save of the season. In doing so, Ferris became just the third pitcher in program history to throw 60 innings in a season
Up Next for Keuka College: The Wolves enter their final conference series of the season this weekend needing three wins and some help to qualify for the postseason. Keuka College will host Alfred University at Kuhl Field. The series will start with a single game on Friday, and then the two teams will play a doubleheader on Sunday to end the regular season.
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