Santos homers three times after the Union split with Ithaca

AMSTERDAM, NY Senior John Santos hit three home runs for the Union College baseball team in Sunday afternoon’s doubleheader against Ithaca College at Shuttleworth Park. Union (12-12, 4-6 Liberty League) came from behind to take the first game 8-7 before dropping the second game to Ithaca (17-11, 7-4 Liberty League) 23-5.

Santos accounted for three of the 10 combined home runs hit in the doubleheader. The senior went 4-6 with four RBIs and three runs scored.

Game one: Union 8, Ithaca 7

By the end of the ninth inning, 7-5, Union crossed home three times and won the semifinal.

Santos hit his first home run, a solo blast to left field, in the second to give the Union a 1-0 lead.

The Bombers scored twice in the fourth inning, but Union quickly responded with a two-run home run from the junior in the bottom of the stanza. Kobe Mentzer. Ithaca tied the game with three runs in the top of the fifth.

The bats opened up for the visiting Bombers in the top of the sixth. After two singles to lead off the inning, Connor Pedersen drove a single into left field and two runs scored. Pedersen scored later in the frame on an RBI single to give Ithaca a 6-3 lead.

Union started a comeback in the eighth inning. After Junior’s single Ryan Cowles get to base, first year Caleb Miller drove a home run to deep right field to cut the lead to one.
Ithaca plated its final run in the top of the ninth to make it a 7-5 game.

The Union bats came alive in the ninth, starting with Santos’ start of the second game. With two exits, first year Liam McIlroy drew to walk as a pinch hitter and senior And Choate came into the game as a pinch hitter. The first year Cooper Ames came to pinch hit and drove a single into center field as Choate raced to third. The first year Jack Klein pinch ran for Ames and junior Ryan Cowles hit an RBI single through the right side. Miller drove an RBI single into right field and Klein drove home to give the Union the go-ahead win.

Second year student Aidan McGee started for Union and pitched six perfect innings. McGee fanned four and allowed six runs, five earned, on 10 hits. Second year student Alex Erickson earned his first collegiate victory after pitching the final three frames. Erickson allowed one run on two hits and struck out five.

Game two: Ithaca 23, Union 5

Ithaca opened the scoring in the first inning, plating two runs to take an early lead.

Union battled back in the bottom of the second to tie the game at two. After Mentzer led off the inning, Santos launched his third home run of the day over the left field fence.

The Ithaca bats broke the game open in the third inning, scoring nine runs to take an 11-2 lead. The Bombers kept the pressure on, recording a single in the fourth and back-to-back home runs in the fifth to make it 16-2.

Union tacked on three runs in the final inning, but eventually fell to the visiting Bombers.

Senior Ben Mlavsky falls to 1-1 on the season after giving up six runs on eight hits in two innings. Senior Harry Azadian allowed just one hit and struck out two in the final inning.

Union returns to action on Tuesday with a non-conference game at Castleton University. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 PM at Spartan Fields.