Golden Eagles bats go quiet in loss against Cardinals
- Victor Menendez
- 45 minutes ago
- 3 min read
By: Victor Menendez
BROCKPORT, N.Y. --- The Brockport Golden Eagles baseball team struggled to get anything going offensively as they scored a season-low one run in their 5-1 loss to the St. John Fisher Cardinals on Wednesday.
"We just didn't execute," Golden Eagles head coach Nick Pontari said. "We'll get better, back to work, practice tomorrow, and get ready for Friday."
The Cardinals got on the board first in the first inning thanks to a two-run double from Jackson Frey. With runners on first and second and two outs, Frey hammered a first pitch fastball from Golden Eagles starter Bryce Tyndell into the left-center gap to give St. John Fisher a 2-0 lead.
Tyndell was making just his second start of the season due to the Golden Eagles big three starters of Ben Yerina, Tyler Pohlman and Camden Schaffer being on short rest due to a weekend three-game series against Russell Sage that saw all three make starts.
Tyndell allowed four earned runs on five hits and two walks in his five innings of work, striking out six.
"Bryce pitched well," Pontari said. "He competed and made adjustments in certain areas. Back to the drawing board for the rest of the guys tomorrow."
On the other side of the ball, Ethan Fulton got the start for St. John Fisher. Working with just two days of rest, Fulton retired 10 of the first 11 Golden Eagles he faced, prompting the Cardinals dugout, which was loud from the get-go, to get even louder.
"We try not to focus on them and if they're loud, they're loud," Pontari said. "We try to worry about us. We'll bring energy at our level, and it's a talking point to make sure we're locked in, focused and do what we need to do."
An RBI double from Jacob Penafeather and a sacrifice fly from Noah Pohrte added two more runs for the Cardinals in the fourth.
Yerina, pitching on three days of rest from his start on April 18, came in to pitch in the sixth inning, promptly allowing a home run to Frey, the first batter he faced. After walking the second batter, the Golden Eagles met on the mound to try to settle down the Sophomore right-hander.
Settle down he did. Yerina retired 12 of the final 14 batters he faced, allowing just two singles and no runs in that span, striking out five.
The Golden Eagles had a chance to significantly cut into the five-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh, putting runners on the corners with nobody out. But a double play from James Dixon quickly erased the threat, allowing just one run to score.
Dylan Becker and Nathan Benjamin combined for five innings in relief of Fulton for the Cardinals, allowing only that one run.
Michael Norton and Cole Grazioplene led the Golden Eagles bats, both going 2-for-4 on the day. Both of Norton's hits went for extra bases as he increased his team-high batting average to .365.
With the loss, the Golden Eagles fall to 17-16 and 13-3 in Empire 8 play, third place in the Empire 8. St. John Fisher improves to 24-6 and 13-2 in Empire 8 play with the win, overtaking Brockport to claim second place.
The Golden Eagles will host Alfred this weekend for a three-game series, their penultimate series of the regular season before playoffs begin.
"We're gonna have our best day at practice tomorrow, that's it," Pontari said. "It doesn't matter if it's Alfred, Utica, Fisher, anybody we play. We're gonna have our best day at practice tomorrow, and that'll prepare us for Friday."
Start times against Alfred on Friday are scheduled for 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.