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Ithaca Blanks Farmingdale 4-0 In NCAA Baseball Playoffs
Ithaca - 4, Farmingdale State - 0
Auburn, N.Y. – The second-seeded Ithaca Bombers (30-12)
beat the sixth-seeded Farmingdale Rams (26-18) 4-0 in
Thursday’s second game of the NCAA Division III baseball
regional tournament hosted by Ithaca College at Auburn’s
Falcon Park. The Bombers advance to play either top-seeded Cortland
or fourth-seeded Montclair State Friday at 10 a.m. in an
elimination game. The Rams were eliminated from the playoffs.
Farmingdale was making the program’s first trip to the NCAA
playoffs; Ithaca has made 32 NCAA Division III playoff appearances
– more than any other school.
Senior Adam Brown pitched a complete-game six-hit shutout for the
Bombers. He struck out three and did not allow a Ram past second
base in eight of his nine innings in tossing his third career
shutout.
Junior center fielder Matt Samela brought in Ithaca’s first
run with a two-out bases-loaded infield single in the seventh. The
Bombers scored three times in the eighth to pull away behind a
run-scoring ground ball by junior catcher Drew Ash and a two-run
single by sophomore right fielder T.J. Abone.
Samela, senior left fielder Rob Raux, senior shortstop Josh Smith
and senior first baseman Eric Ferguson each had two hits. Raux also
stole two bases; his two hits raise his career total to 219 –
one short of the school record set by all-American Vince Roman
(1987-1990).
Jesse Scott was the hard-luck loser for Farmingdale, giving up six
hits over 6.2 innings. He helped his own cause by picking a pair of
Bombers off base in the first and left with the bases loaded in the
seventh. Samela – who made a diving catch in right-center
field with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth to keep the
game scoreless – hit a slow roller between the mound and
third base off the Rams’ first reliever to bring in the
winning run.
Story courtsey of Ithaca Sports Information
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