Little Falls, NJ – Freshman Eric Ferguson came off the bench to go 2-for-3 with four RBI as Ithaca College pounded out 22 hits in a 20-6 victory over Montclair State in NCAA Division III baseball action at Yogi Berra Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Rob Raux was 4-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored while Jeremy Peters added two hits and three RBI as Ithaca (22-13-2) won its second straight and fifth in its last six outings.
ETHAN BOYD, playing in his final game at MSU, was 2-for-4 with three RBI as the Red Hawks closed out there 2005 season at 15-24.
Ithaca jumped out early as the Bombers scored four times in the first inning. Marty O'Boyle walked to open the inning and after stealing second, scored as Raux singled to left centerfield. Kyle Rutherford collected an RBI single for a 2-0 lead and Peters capped the inning with a two-run triple as Ithaca built a quick four-run cushion. Montclair State responded in its half of the inning as
MICHAEL NUNES led off with a single and an error put runners on first and second. Boyd then smacked a base hit through the left side for the first run and
DANNY RODRIGUEZ scored on
MATT BENEDETTI's fielder's choice as MSU pulled within 4-2.
Ithaca pushed the lead back to 6-2 in the second as Raux's infield single brought home a run and P.J. Canestrari lofted a sacrifice fly. Montclair got a run back in the third on Boyd's sacrifice fly, but the Bombers answered with three runs in the top of the fourth as a two-out error by the Red Hawks left the door open. Canestrari singled up the middle to drive in one run and Rutherford added an RBI single for an 8-3 lead with Raux scoring on the play after another Montclair State miscue.
The Bombers got three more in the sixth to break the game wide open. Eric Maya drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Todd Czerno collected an RBI double. Raux completed the inning with his third RBI, a single to right for a 12-3 advantage.
Tom O'Connor picked up the victory as he improved to 7-4. The righthander allowed three runs (two earned) and seven hits in six innings or work, striking out three and walking one.
JAIRO MENDEZ suffered the loss (4-9).
O'Boyle was 3-for-6 with five runs scored for Ithaca while Rutherford, Peters and Maya each had two hits. Backup catcher Brett Gryska was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Nunes and Rodriguez each had two hits for Montclair State , which collected 12 in the game. Boyd, the 2005 NJAC Player of the Year, closed out his Montclair State career with 208 hits and 104 RBI, both of which place him among the Top 15 all-time in Red Hawk history.
