UTICA, NY— The Houghton Highlanders (10-13, 2-7 Empire 8) watched two more late leads slip away as the Utica Pioneers (9-9, 3-2 Empire 8) picked up where they left off on Monday, completing the three sweep.
Game Two:
After darkness halted Monday's nightcap in a 15-15 tie after nine complete innings, the two teams picked up where they left off the previous day.
The Highlanders put two runners on base, but could not push a run across in the top of the tenth.
With one out on the bottom half of the inning, Jake Ryan lifted a fly ball to left field that carried over the outfield fence giving the hosts their second straight win.
Houghton had led 15-11 heading into the bottom of the ninth. With two outs the Pioneers cut the lead to three with a single up the middle. With two men aboard Utica tied the game in dramatic fashion with a three-run homerun.
The Highlanders had trailed 11-3 after the third inning, but two runs in the fifth and a 10-run explosion in the sixth gave them the lead.
Ethan Duryea went 3-for-6 with two homeruns and four RBIs for the Highlanders.
Jeremy Newswanger also added three hits and
David Wessells,
John Zamites and
Tage Johnson each collected two hits apiece.
Houghton rapped out 16 hits on the game but stranded 13 runners. The Pioneers posted 15 hits but left only nine on base.
Game Three:
After five complete innings and in the midst of a steady rain the Highlanders held a 6-3 lead. After a short delay, however, the Pioneers plated three runs in the sixth to tie the score, then three more in the seventh to take the lead.
Houghton threatened in the seventh, but left the bases loaded. A hard-hit double-play in the eighth nullified a lead-off walk by Johnson. And while
Garret Kirkpatrick followed with a base hit, the Highlanders could not push a run across.
In the ninth Zamites and Wessells hit back-to-back two-out doubles to cut the lead to two, but Houghton would go no further.
Wessells finished 4-for-6 with a double and a triple, while Johnson, Kirkpatrick and Zamites each added two hits.
Both teams posted 15 hits, but Houghton left 12 men on base while the Pioneers stranded only 10.
Next Time Out:
Houghton travels to Ithaca College tomorrow to take on the Bombers at 4:00 p.m. in another Empire 8 conference matchup.
