Albany, NY- The 2018-19 Fisher baseball team has made school history this past weekend as they have now won 10 in a row to start off their season. A Falcons team has not started with more than six wins prior to this team, and they are doing so in a convincing fashion as they have now outscored their opponents 103-18. This weekend was no different as they faced the Bryant & Stratton College Bobcats and came away with two doubleheader sweeps, 9-3 and 9-0 on Saturday and 4-1 and 6-5 on Sunday.
Saturday
Game 1- Zach LeBlanc (Salem, MA) got his third win of the season as the Falcons ace, as he pitched another strong six innings, allowing just five hits and collecting six strikeouts. The offense also did their part as they ignited right from the gate as they scored two in the first inning to go up 2-0. The Bobcats earned their first run off LeBlanc in the third, but the Falcons countered with two more runs in the 4th to go up for good. Junior hurler Johann Doerrer (Dolgeville, NY) came in the 7th with his team up 6-3, and allowed one earned run on just two hits and struck out four while earning the save. The offense tacked on three more runs in the 8th inning to secure the victory, 9-4. John Batista (Lawrence, MA) and Mitchell Lundholm (Plymouth, MA) led the offense with three hits and a double a piece, as well as five RBI's combined.
Game 2- The offense picked up right where they left off in the nightcap of the Saturday doubleheader as they pulled out to an early 3-0 run lead after three innings. Senior Kevin Bongiovani (Bayside, NY) picked up his first win of the season as he pitched five strong innings, allowing one hit and no earned runs. In three appearances for the Falcons, Bongiovani has allowed just three hits in 10 innings pitched to go along with 11 K's. The three runs was all the Falcons needed as they held on for the 3-0 win in the seven inning game as John Travieso (Miami, FL) came in for two innings of relief to earn the save, allowing just one base runner. Ismael Perez (Brooklyn, NY) and Braxten Ramirez (Amarillo, TX) both had multiple hits in the nightcap to pace the offense for the 8th Falcons win, 3-0.
Sunday
Game 1- The Falcons hit parade continued on Sunday morning as they banged out another 14 hits to earn the 4-1 win over the Bobcats. Norberto Ceballos (Loiza, Puerto Rico) pitched his way to his third win of the season, throwing 3 2/3 innings in relief allowing one earned run and striking out three. Wesley Lopez (Caguas, Puerto Rico) started the day for the Falcons facing 14 batters and allowing three baserunners, with two hits and also hit a batter. The Bobcats thought they finally quieted the Fisher bats as the team was held scoreless through the first four innings, but the Falcons finally got to their pitching staff in the fifth off a base clearing double by Lundholm to put his team up 3-0. Freshman Jorge Sanchez (Caguas, Puerto Rico) plated the fourth Fisher run in the 7th when he got a base hit to score Ramirez to go up 4-0. BSC bats grabbed a run off Ceballos in the 7th, but Yamil Delgado (Caguas, Puerto Rico) came in and shut down the Bobcats offense for the save, allowing just one hit to earn his team the victory.
Game 2- In the finale of the weekend, Fisher again took a 2-0 lead in the top half of the first inning, but the Bobcats rallied right back in the second to tie the game up 2-2. The Falcons found themselves in an unfamiliar spot for the next three innings, as BSC pulled ahead 4-2 after six innings. This is the only point in the young season that the Falcons have trailed in a game. Headed into the 7th, down 4-2, the offense re-ignited and put together a 4-run inning to re-claim the lead, 6-4. Travieso was brought on in the 7th to close out the weekend, and although he gave up an earned run to make it 6-5, he earned the save and ended the Bobcats threat. Edgar Carrasco (Gurabo, Puerto Rico) got the start for the Falcons pitching two innings and allowing an earned run, but it was Raymundo Gomez (Lynn, MA) who got the win, his second of the season, as he pitched four innings in relief for the win. Ivan Rivera (Brooklyn, NY) and Reynaldo Mejia (Lawrence, MA) led the Falcons bats with two hits and an RBI each.
Falcons bats continue to impress as they shelled out another 45 hits over the weekend. Perez, Sanchez and Batista led the way overall as they each had at least one hit in the four game sweep of the Bobcats. Fisher will close out their fall season next weekend at Homecoming against Bryant & Stratton on Saturday at Fraser field with a 12pm start.