AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Union College baseball team opened their spring break trip in Florida with a 13-2 win over Keuka on Thursday afternoon at Lake Myrtle Field as part of the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.
A trio of sophomores had a strong day at the plate to open up the week.
Liam McIlroy hit his fourth homerun of the season and went 1-for-3 with two RBI while
Andrew Keaveney led the way at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored.
Caleb Miller added two hits, an RBI, and a run scored.
McIlroy hit a leadoff homerun to open the scoring in the first inning. Keuka responded in the bottom of the frame with a run scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. The Garnet Chargers hit three doubles in the second inning to take a 3-1 lead.
Senior
Thomas Parisi reached first on an error in the third inning and advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt. The senior reached third on a wild pitch, which set him up to score when Keaveney singled through the right side. A triple by Miller to center field gave Keaveney time to cross home to take a 5-1 lead after three innings.
With runners on first and third, McIlroy capitalized on a throwing error to reach first and seniors
Ryan Cowles and
Sebastian Pike both crossed home. The Wolves scored their second run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. A fielding error by junior
Dan Sheeran allowed a runner at second to cross home.
Union scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning to put the game out of reach. The Garnet Chargers loaded the bases and Sheeran drew a walk to walk in a run. Cowles reached first on an error to allow another run to cross home before McIlroy hit a sac fly to score Union's third run of the inning. Another bases-loaded walk brought in another run before Keaveney hit a two-run RBI single to center field to close out the scoring.
Sophomore
Alex Oppenheimer earned his third win of the season. Oppenheimer pitched five complete innings and allowed one run on three hits while striking out four. Senior
Kyle Patlove allowed one run on one hit in one inning of work and classmate
Bryce Fournier fanned two in one inning of work.
Union is back in action on Saturday with a doubleheader against SUNY Poly and St. Olaf. First pitch against SUNY Poly is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Lake Myrtle Park #6.
