GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart baseball team earned a doubleheader split against Ithaca on Friday at McDonough Park, winning the first game 15-14 before falling in the second game 6-3.

Game 1: Hobart 15, Ithaca 14

The opener featured several wild momentum swings and entered the ninth inning tied at 14. Junior Jake Schulte pitched a 1-2-3 top of the ninth to set the stage for the Statesmen to rally. Senior Christian Petry led off the inning with an infield single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. The Bombers intentionally walked junior Sean Garvin bringing senior Will Jones to the plate. He lifted a routine fly ball to center that was dropped, loading the bases with one out. Sophomore Jack Farnen delivered a sharply hit grounder that the short stop couldn't handle, giving Hobart the walk-off win.

The starting pitchers, Hobart's Cole Tarrant and Ithaca's Jack Picozzi, seemed locked in a duel in the first half of the game. The Bombers led a 2-1 lead through four and a half innings. Picozzi started to lose his command in the bottom of the fifth, hitting the leadoff batter and surrendering back-to-back singles to load the bases. He struck out the next batter, but hit the next two, forcing in runs. Picozzi recorded another strikeout, but hit another batter and another run came home on a passed ball. Sophomore Aidan Davenport's two-run single up the middle made it a six-run inning for the Statesmen.

The seventh inning saw a flurry of scoring from both teams. Ithaca regained momentum with a Sheldon Jay Walker III grand slam and a solo homer by Matt Curtis, adding eight runs for a 10-7 lead. Hobart responded with runs driven in by Davenport, junior Cole Conte, first-year Jack O'Neil, and Jones to reclaim the lead at 14-10. The Bombers tied the game in the eighth inning with four runs, highlighted by Ethan Fantel's two-RBI double, leveling the score at 14-14.

Petry, O'Neil, Davenport and Conte each had two hits in the game for Hobart. Davenport and Jones each contributed three RBIs.

With the win, Hobart clinched second place in the Liberty League West. The Statesmen will host the third place team in the East in a Liberty League Crossover Series next weekend with the winner advancing to the Liberty League Championship Tournament.

Game 2: Ithaca 6, Hobart 3.

In game two, Hobart fell to Ithaca 6-3 despite managing eight hits, including two doubles. Hobart opened the scoring in the first inning as O'Neil doubled down the right-field line and was brought home by a double to left center from Garvin, giving Hobart a 1-0 lead. Garvin extended his hitting streak to 18 games and has reached base safely in 26 straight games.

Hobart extended its lead in the fifth inning with two runs. Quinn Dashefsky and Christian Petry both walked, setting the table for Drew Bolduc, who singled to shortstop, driving in Dashefsky. A throwing error allowed Petry to score, putting Hobart up 3-0. Ithaca responded in the bottom half with two runs of their own.

Ithaca tied the game in the sixth inning with a home run by Ethan Daddabbo. The seventh inning swung in Ithaca's favor as they scored three more runs, including a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded, a sacrifice fly, and an RBI single, giving Ithaca a 6-3 lead.

O'Neil delivered two hits, including a double, and also scored a run and stole a base. Garvin also contributed two hits, including a double, and drove in a run. Dashefsky reached base three times, scoring once and stealing a base.

Hobart now holds a record of 25-11, 9-5 in the conference, while Ithaca is 19-13 with a 10-8 mark in the conference.