HOUGHTON, NY—The Houghton Highlanders bounced back from a disastrous seventh-inning implosion in game one, riding an outstanding pitching performance from Griffin Tubbs and a pair of RBIs from Wayne Rode, to take the second game, 5-4.
 
Game One: After falling behind, 4-0 after four innings, Houghton rallied in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four runs to tie the game.  Joe Gross capped the inning with a two-out double to left, scoring Jeremy Newswanger and Caleb Philips.
 
St. John Fisher quickly loaded the bases in the sixth and a one-out walk gave them a one run lead, but Aaron Monroe induced an inning-ending double-play to keep the Highlanders within striking distance.
 
In the bottom half of the inning, Houghton put runners on second and third with two outs but failed to score a run.
 
Then the wheels came off.
 
In the top of the seventh the Cardinals scored 11 runs on five hits, one Houghton error and six walks to pull ahead for good.
 
Game Two: Griffin Tubbs needed only 93 pitches to earn his fifth win of the season.  Tubbs went the distance for the third time this season, allowing nine hits and one walk while striking out four.
 
Houghton jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the third when Wayne Rode, Caleb Philips and Ben Closson laced back-to-back-to-back singles to plate three straight runs.
 
The Cardinals battled back, scoring two in the top of the fourth, then taking the lead on a two-run blast by Stephen Edgett in the fifth.
 
From that point on, Tubbs went lights-out, allowing only two batters to reach base over the final four frames.
 
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, David Wessells laced a base hit to right and Jeremy Newswanger followed with a double to the right-center wall, scoring the tying run.  After a pitching change, Rode hit the first pitch from the Cardinals reliever into centerfield to score Newswanger and put the Highlanders back on top for good.
 
GAME VITALS                           
Game One Score: St. John Fisher - 16 | Houghton – 4
Game One Score: St. John Fisher - 4 | Houghton – 5
Records: St. John Fisher: 28-11 (13-5 Empire 8) | Houghton: 11-21 (6-10 Empire 8)
Venue: Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex, Houghton, NY | Attendance: 85/85
 
KEY STATS:
>> Rode and Wessells each collected four hits on the day, raising their batting averages to .280 and .379, respectively.  Wessells extended his hit streak to 11 games and has reached base safely in 31 of the Highlanders 32 games this season.
 
>> Tubbs has not allowed more than four runs in any of his eight starts this season.  He leads the team with 65.1 innings and is currently second to Brandon Joslin (2.50 ERA) with a 3.44 ERA.
 
COACH'S CORNER:
"I'm incredibly proud of how our guys bounced back in that second game.  We played 15 innings of really good baseball… and one inning of… not so good baseball.
 
"That first game was like a flashback to when we played Fisher a couple of weeks ago: we played well right up to the end but couldn't finish it. Honestly, in this series, there were 22 innings where two teams battled neck-and-neck, and three innings that they completely dominated.
 
"[Griffin] Tubbs was outstanding today.  The last four innings may have been the best I've seen him pitch all year.  He was aggressive and trusted his pitches.  It was a great performance against a tough lineup.
 
"Brandon [Joslin] battled throughout game one.  He's been fighting some elbow tenderness the past couple of weeks, but his performance was gutsy.  It's too bad we couldn't pull that one out for him like we did for Griff.
 
"Overall, I thought we played good defense, had timely hitting and showed some resiliency and grit.  I'm really proud of our guys and looking forward to the season finale on Monday against Stevens." –Coach Brian Reitnour
 
 UP NEXT:
The Highlanders return to the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex on Monday for one final game against Stevens at 4:00 p.m.