There was a buzz in the air prior to the Ithaca College baseball team’s home opener on a sunny and warm afternoon at Freeman Field on April 15.
That buzz slowly faded throughout the 8-2 non-conference loss to the Keystone College Giants, largely thanks to 10 strikeouts over seven innings from Keystone junior pitcher Leam Powell.
The IC offense, ranked No. 1 in the Liberty League, was held to two runs on four hits by Powell, whose fastball sat around 90 MPH through the seventh inning.
“He was a good arm,” head coach David Valesente said. “Somebody that we hadn’t seen before, so really just trying to be on time with the fastball. He threw three pitches pretty well in the zone and was firm, so it was a good challenge for our guys. … So tip the cap. He did well.”
Four costly errors and a rocky fourth inning did not help a rarely silent Bombers lineup.
Valesente pointed at the errors and walks in the fourth and seventh innings as the major difference-maker in the game.
“I felt that we gave them seven out of their eight runs,” Valesente said. “ I thought it should have been a two-to-one ball game, but unfortunately, it didn’t end up that way.”
The Bombers found trouble once digging into their bullpen with junior pitcher Trevor Greene in the fourth inning. A four-run inning stemmed from an HBP and a chopping double just out of the reach of senior third baseman Lucas Orlovitz.
Two walks, two well-placed singles and a throwing error later, and the Bombers were behind 5-0 after four innings.
Greene escaped the inning after 41 pitches, three hits, three walks, a HBP and three strikeouts.
“Walking and hitting four guys in that one inning wasn’t very good,” Valesente said. “So that one inning hurt us pretty good. But besides that, I thought it was pretty clean [from our pitchers].”
After pulling things to within three at 5-2, the errors hurt IC again in the seventh inning. A high throw from Orlovitz pulled junior second baseman Matt Curtis up and off the bag, putting two runners on with one out.
Two batters later, with the bases loaded and still one out, a double-play ball found Orlovitz, but his throw sailed wide of first-year catcher Ben Raspanti’s outstretched glove, scoring two and essentially putting the game out of reach at 7-2.
The Bombers have seldom finished a game without an error this season, however this was only the fourth occasion on which they have committed four errors in a game.
In a bullpen game for IC, first-year pitcher Richard Zangara got the start, going three solid innings, despite allowing one run on a solo home run to the second batter of the game.
Valesente employed junior pitcher Reed Bailey for his first bullpen appearance of the season in the eighth inning after six starts. Bailey recorded a scoreless frame in 10 pitches to lower his earned run average to 6.89.
Zangara missed out on a weekend start in the series against Skidmore College for the first time in three series. Because of Bailey’s pitch count, he will likely be available for the upcoming weekend series at St. Lawrence University.
Valesente said that the upcoming series starters will be similar to the starters against Skidmore.
Sophomore pitcher Luke Zelinko pitched in a low-stakes spot in the ninth inning, also putting up a scoreless frame to bring his ERA down to 2.25 in his 11th appearance of the season.
While the pitching staff allowed eight runs, only four were earned.
The Bombers look to get back in the win column when they travel to play the St. Lawrence University Saints in a three-game series starting at 3 p.m. April 17 in Canton, New York.