HENRIETTA, N.Y.—The Hobart baseball team fell to the Rochester Institute of Technology in the championship game of the Liberty League Tournament 17-5 on Saturday at the RIT Baseball Complex.
The Statesmen forced the winner-take-all final by beating the Tigers 17-6 in the first of the day.
Senior
Christian Petry recorded three hits, scored two runs, and contributed a pair of spectacular defensive plays. Junior
Sean Garvin delivered another strong performance, collecting three hits, two doubles and a triple, while driving in three runs.
RIT's fourth inning proved decisive, breaking open the contest with six runs. After Hobart cut the Tigers' lead to 7-5 on a two-run double by Garvin in the top of the inning, RIT stretched its lead to eight thanks in part to two-RBI doubles by Max Matteucci and Evan Kurtz.
Hobart found early success, capitalizing on RIT's first-inning error to plate two unearned runs. Petry's leadoff single and O'Neil's walk set the stage for sophomore
Jack Farnen to reach on an error, scoring Petry. First-year
Quinn Dashefsky's bases-loaded walk added another run. The Tigers scored three in their half of the inning, but Garvin's RBI triple in the second tied the game. RIT reclaimed the lead for good with an RBI single by Jackson Rusiecki in the bottom of the second.
Petry ended the inning with an incredible leaping grab on a soft liner on the edge of the outfield and then fired to first for an inning-ending double play. He also robbed the Tigers of a hit in the sixth, making an impressive diving stop on a ball hit up the middle and then threw to second for an out.
Web gems weren't exclusive to Petry. Byrnes robbed Matteucci of an extra-base hit, catching a deep drive to right center as he crashed into the outfield fence.
Garvin's two doubles raised his season total to 17, eclipsing the Statesmen record (15) set by John Hogan in 1988.
The Tigers (24-13) earned the Liberty League's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, while the Statesmen (30-13) have to wait to see if their NCAA Power Index rating is high enough to earn one of the 23 at-large bids. Hobart began the day at No. 44 in the NPI. The full 64-team championship field will be announced on ncaa.com at noon on Monday, May 11.
