Canton, NY – Christian Nazario-Cruz (Naguabo, Puerto Rico) drove in two runs and John Mancini (Scotia, NY) earned his second win in three days as the baseball team earned a split with visiting SUNY Poly on Tuesday. The Wildcats (14-12) took the opener 8-5 before the Roos (11-27) bounced back with a 3-2 win in the nightcap.

Game 1

SUNY Poly put together a big inning bring across six runs in the second on a pair of 2 RBI singles as well as a pair of RBI base hits. The Wildcats added one run each in the fifth and seventh for their eight runs.

The Roos plated three runs in the sixth on a Seth Douglas (Reedsburg, WI) 2 RBI double to right center scoring Nazario-Cruz and Jesse Barton (Belle Glade, FL). Chris Jones (Deerfield Beach, FL) followed with an RBI single to left to score Douglas.

SUNY Canton added a pair of runs in the seventh on another 2 RBI double from Douglas to score Nazario-Cruz and Matt Hall (Palmyra, NY) but the comeback bid fell short.

Derek Harkin (Ottawa, ON) got the start on the mound throwing 1.2 innings giving up six earned runs. Zach Lawrence (West Palm Beach, FL) threw 4.1 innings in relief without giving up an earned run, while Douglas gave up one earned on two hits in one inning.

Game 2

The Wildcats plated one run in the first inning of the nightcap on an RBI single. The Roos took a 2-1 lead on a Nazario-Cruz 2 RBI single to left in the third. He scored Wilson Matos (Brooklyn, NY) and Brandon Welch (Constable, NY) on the play.

SUNY Poly tied the game at two on an RBI single to center in the fourth but the Roos answered right back to take a 3-2 lead in the fifth. Matos led off with a walk and Nazario-Cruz sent Matos over to second on a sacrifice bunt. Douglas followed with a single to left to put runner at the corners with one down. Douglas took off to steal second and got caught in a run-down and was eventually tagged out, but Matos broke for the plate and scored what would be the eventual game-winning run.

Travis Bigelow (Ottawa, ON) got the no-decision on the mound giving up two earned with four strike outs in four innings. Mancini was dominant pitching the fifth and sixth innings in relief giving up just one hit and striking out two. Robbie Osterer (Ottawa, ON) struck out the side in the seventh to earn his second save of the season.

The baseball team is back in action on Sunday when it closes out the regular season with a visit to Penn State Abington for a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.