Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
CAZENOVIA, N.Y. - After getting absolutely annihilated in the first game of a doubleheader at Cazenovia College on Sunday afternoon, the Bard College baseball team was staring at a long, quiet ride home if Game 2 went the same way.

Cazenovia scored 26 runs on 26 hits in the first game, and hit three homers and four doubles in the second game. But Bard earned an amazing split by rallying to take Game 2, 15-12.

Since losing 10 straight games between Mar. 25 and Apr. 14, the Raptors are 4-4.

Bard was up, 1-0, after the top of the first inning of Game 1. But the Wildcats (12-26) put up two in the first and six in the second, and the rout was on. Senior starter Joe Rogers (Broadalbin, NY) threw a complete-game, four-hitter and went 5-for-6 with two RBI and four runs scored in a 26-1 victory. Sophomore Matt Nestopoulos (Ithaca, NY) went 3-for-3 with a homer, two walks, three RBI and three runs scored.

Game 2 was like a heavyweight fight. It was 1-1 after the first inning, 5-5 after the third inning, 7-7 after the fourth inning, and 10-10 after the fifth inning. Bard (7-17) went ahead to stay with four runs in the top of the sixth.

The Raptors loaded the bases with no outs when Alec Montecalvo singled, Tom Danz was hit by a pitch, and Elliot Garcia singled. Senior Steve Kovalcik, who had a key hit in Bard's Game 2 victory over John Jay on Saturday, singled to drive in two runs, and went to second on the throw home. Cooper Roberts followed with another two-run single, and Bard was up, 14-10 going into the bottom of the sixth.

The Wildcats managed just one unearned run in both the bottom of the sixth and the bottom of the seventh, and Bard its third split doubleheader in less than a week.

"We are really coming along," Bard assistant coach Andy Salvatore said. "That's a good team we played today."

Junior Zack Levanduski (Elmira Heights, NY) went 3-for-5 with a homer, two doubles, two RBI and three runs scored for Cazenovia. Freshman Michael Makara (Whitehall, PA) and senior Pat Shepardson (Little Falls, NY) also homered.

For Bard, Adam Flowers went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI; Ryan Conklin went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI, and Roberts had the best day of his collegiate career, going 3-for-3 with three RBI and three runs scored. He had one RBI on the season before Sunday.

Bard currently doesn't have another game on the schedule, but there are tentative plans to play a doubleheader on Friday at either Dutchess Stadium or Gruner Field. The opponent is to be announced. Keep an eye on the Bard web site, as well as the Facebook and Twitter pages for Bard Athletics to keep informed.