Utica, NY – The SUNY Canton baseball team opened the inaugural Empire 8 Tournament with an 11-4 victory against Elmira College before dropping a 19-9 decision to Ithaca College in the second game of the tournament.

Game 1

The Roos received a strong pitching performance in the opener from Travis Bigelow (Ottawa, ON) and hot hitting from a number of players.

Bigelow tossed eight innings giving up just six hits and three earned runs. He struck out four batters, while walking three in his team-best fourth win of the season.

The Roo bats exploded for 20 hits as eight different players registered multi-hit outings. Seth Douglas (Reedsburg, WI) led the way offensively with two hits including an inside the park home run. The sophomore scored three times and drove in three runs.

Brandon Welch (Constable, NY) posted three hits and 2 RBI, while Chris Jones (Deerfield Beach, FL) also had a three hit 2 RBI outing. Nicholas Demarais (Plattsburgh, NY) also finished with three hits, while Travis Schindler (West Islip, NY), Jeremy Baez (Bronx, NY) and Jesse Barton (Belle Glade, FL) all posted multiple hits.

Robbie Osterer (Ottawa, ON) gave up one run in relief, while Dom Deliberti (Staten Island, NY) closed out the final two-thirds of an inning without allowing a hit as he struck out both batters.

Game 2

The Bombers scored 12 runs in the first three innings en route to their victory in SUNY Canton's second game of the tournament. Baez led the way offensively for the Roos going 5-for-6 scoring twice and adding an RBI. Keenan Shannon (Ballston Spa, NY) and Welch drove in two runs apiece.

Khalil Bratton (Queens, NY) took the loss on the mound throwing 2.1 innings while allowing five earned runs.

The baseball team will return to action in the double elimination Empire 8 Tournament on Friday at 10:00 a.m. when they square off with either Utica College or Houghton College.