Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Cazenovia, N.Y.: The SUNY Cobleskill baseball team put on an impressive show of power hitting in their North Atlantic Conference (NAC) season opening doubleheader on Saturday afternoon using nine home runs to sweep the host Cazenovia College Wildcats by scores of 10-9 in the opener and 15-1 in the nightcap. With the sweep, the Fighting Tigers are now 3-1 overall on the year including a 2-0 mark in NAC action while the Wildcats move to 5-12 overall including a 2-2 record in league action.

In the opener the Fighting Tigers trailed 8-to-5 in the top of the sixth inning when sophomore designated hitter Connor Maxwell, Newport, N.Y., West Canada Valley High School, walked then scored when junior right fielder Samuel Gutierrez, Bayside, N.Y., Martin Van Buren High School/Queensborough Community College, blasted his first home run of the season. Cobleskill then tied the game three batters later when sophomore catcher Ian Budzinski, Dillsburg, Pa., Northern High School, hit his first intercollegiate homer to make it 8-8.

In the seventh inning, Cobleskill to the lead for good when junior centerfielder Nick Thomas, Scotia, N.Y., Scotia-Glenville High School/Hudson Valley Community College, singled and scored when junior shortstop Eddy Garcia, Bronx, N.Y., World View High School, belted a two-run homer to make it 10-8.

Freshman reliever Chris Leavey, Kings Park, N.Y., Kings Park High School, then recorded the victory by allowing only one earned run in 2 1/3 innings of work.

Nick Thomas and Eddy Garcia each were 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBI in the game to lead the way to the victory for the Orange & Black.

In the nightcap, the Fighting Tigers used home runs by Nick Thomas, Eddy Garcia, freshman catcher Matthew Snyder, Latham, N.Y., Shaker High School, senior left fielder Conner Maxwell, Newport, N.Y., Notre Dame High School, and sophomore third baseman Frank Leger, Bronx, N.Y., All Hallows High School, to put the game out of reach as a nine run second inning was the key frame in the win.

Senior Jarrod Williams, Baldwinsville, N.Y., C.W. Baker High School/Finger Lakes Community College, worked five scoreless innings to record the win to even his season record at 1-1 overall on the year-to-date.

The Fighting Tigers are next scheduled to be in action on Wednesday April 14 when they are scheduled to host the Pioneers of Utica College in non-conference action for a solo game beginning at 4:00 p.m.

TIGER NOTES: The nine home runs hit on the day constitutes the most ever hit by a SUNY Cobleskill baseball team in: a single game with the five hit in the second game and in a doubleheader. The Fighting Tigers have also now hit 10 home runs on the season to date, in only four games, which is now the program record for most home runs hit in a single season.