Canton, NY – The SUNY Canton baseball team kept its Empire 8 playoff hopes alive as it earned an important Saturday sweep defeating visiting Elmira College 10-4 and 6-5.

The Roos (6-11 Empire 8, 14-22 overall) currently sit in a tie for fourth place with Utica College in the Empire 8 standings, while the Soaring Eagles (4-11, 12-22) are two games back in the standings. SUNY Canton is scheduled to round out Empire 8 play with a 12 p.m. matchup with Elmira on Sunday. The Pioneers have one conference contest remaining on Friday when they host St. John Fisher College.

Game 1 – Box Score

Elmira got on the board first with one run in the opening inning but from there the Roo bats started heating up. SUNY Canton added seven runs with three each in the second and fourth innings and a four run third to take a commanding 10-1 lead after four.

Brandon Welch (Constable, NY) opened the scoring with an RBI single to center to score Chris Roenbeck (Plattsburgh, NY) who led off the second with a double. Welch later scored on a passed ball and Kirkland Festa (Wellington, FL) grounded out to short to plate Bobby Clemente (Carolina, NY), who reached after being hit by a pitch.

Seth Douglas (Reedsburg, WI) tripled down the left field line to score Wilson Matos (Brooklyn, NY) in the third after he led off with a base hit up the middle. Jeremy Baez (Bronx, NY) drove in Douglas on an RBI single to left and Welch scored Baez on a sacrifice fly to center. Christian Nazario-Cruz (Naguabo, Puerto Rico) concluded the third inning scoring driving in Roenbeck after Cruz was hit by a pitch.

Douglas led off the fourth inning with a double down the left field line and Roenbeck drew a one out walk. Welch continued his hot game stepping to the plate and driving a ball over the left center field fence for a three run homer, his fourth dinger of the season.

The Soaring Eagles got two runs back in the fifth and one in the sixth but the Roos shut down any comeback attempt en route to the convincing win.

Travis Bigelow (Ottawa, ON) threw his conference-leading sixth complete game of the season striking out five batters and walking just two while giving up four runs. Dennis Rudolph scattered 11 hits and nine earned runs over four innings for the Soaring Eagles.

Welch led the way with 5 RBI one two hits and a sacrifice fly with a home run. Douglas stayed hot with a 3-for-4 outing including a triple and double. Roenbeck reached base four times going 2-for-2 with three runs and a pair of walks.

Game 2 – Box Score

Elmira got out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the nightcap just as it did in the opener. SUNY Canton responded with a four run third to mirror its performance from Game 1. Edward Malinoski, Jr (Evans Mills, NY) drew a one out walk and Festa followed with a single through the left side. Cruz placed the ball through the right side of the infield to score Malinoski from second and Matos plated Festa on an RBI groundout. Douglas concluded the scoring in the inning with his eighth home run of the season, this one a two run homer. He now stands alone with both the single-season program record (8) and career home run record (11) for the Roos.

The Soaring Eagles got two runs back in the top of the fourth and one in the fifth to make it a tie ball game at four apiece heading to the bottom of the fifth. Elmira took a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh but SUNY Canton responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to secure the win.

Clemente led off legging out an infield single and Derrek DuPont () placed a base hit just inside the bag at third base. Festa moved the runners over with a beautiful sacrifice bunt and both runners would score as Cruz singled past the shortstop.

Chris Lee (Brooklyn, NY) earned his first win of the season on the mound tossing four innings in relief giving up just one hit and one run while striking out three. Tom Brusca (Middletown, NY) earned the no-decision going five innings fanning six batters.

The baseball team is back in action on Sunday when it hosts Elmira College for a single nine-inning game at 12 p.m.