The SUNY Oneonta baseball team nearly stole a win from Ithaca College today in game two of its doubleheader with the Bombers, but a three-run seventh that included a walk-off two-run homer, gave the hosts a 7-5 win to secure its sweep.
 
Oneonta (5-12) had rallied in its half of the seventh with three runs to take a 5-4 lead entering the bottom of the inning.  A one-out triple by senior Christopher Orlando cleared the bases to give the Red Dragons the lead.
 
In the bottom of the inning, Zach Cole hit a pinch-hit leadoff triple and came in to score the tying run on a single by John Stanley.  Stanley stole second and came in on the game-winning home run by Colby Gee with two outs.
 
Sophomore Kyle Jordan took the loss for Oneonta in relief of junior Nate Eastman, who threw the first six innings allowing seven hits and four runs, two earned, while recording two strikeouts.
 
Dylan Stamile and Casey Kerdesky each collected two hits for Oneonta.
 
In today's first game, Oneonta scored three runs in the third inning and held a 3-1 lead after three innings.  Matt Mastroianni singled in a pair of runs and came around to score on a single by Orlando.
 
Ithaca plated two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth to take a 4-3 lead entering the top of the sixth.  In the sixth, Oneonta tied the game when Orlando scored from third on a ground out to shortstop by LJ Gizzarelli (Newburgh/Newburgh Free Academy).
 
The Bombers exploded for five runs in the bottom of the sixth on the strength of a couple of extra-base hits.
 
Freshman Robert Marks, sophomore Noah Raspler and senior Sean McMurray each threw two innings in the game.  Marks started and allowed no runs on one hit while striking out three batters.  Raspler was next and he was touched up for three runs, one earned and three hits.  McMurray was last and he allowed six runs, five earned, as he suffered his first loss of the season.
 
Oneonta is scheduled to open its home schedule this weekend when they host Plattsburgh for a SUNYAC three-game series.  The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon and play a single game on Sunday beginning at noon.  This series was originally scheduled to be at Plattsburgh, but was changed due to an unplayable field in Plattsburgh.