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Vikings Take 2 From Spartans

The Spartans dropped a pair of road games to Hudson Valley CC on Wednesday.
The Spartans dropped a pair of road games to Hudson Valley CC on Wednesday.

Cayuga Community College Baseball dropped a pair of close road games to divisional foe Hudson Valley Community College on Wednesday.

After splitting with the Vikings on Sunday, the Spartans fell 6-3 in the opener on Wednesday and 9-8 in a see-saw extra-inning contest to end the season series in the Vikings favor. The losses leave the Spartans 24-10 overall and 22-8 in Region III play, and they're now in third place in Region III's East Division.

"This is when we find out what kind of team we truly are," said Cayuga Coach John Rizzo. "All teams run into a patch like this. The good ones come out of it a better team."

Cayuga scored early in the opener, with Juan Perez's two-out double scoring Tyler Korsky in the first inning. Hudson Valley plated two runs each in the second and third innings, though, to take a 4-2 lead into the later innings. Fernando Espinal's homer in the sixth cut the Vikings' lead to one, but Hudson Valley came back with two insurance runs in the sixth.

Espinal, Phil Messina and Mike Norton each finished with two hits in the opener. Will Coleman threw five innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits, striking out five.

The second game saw repeated lead changes and stretched into extra innings. A homer by Espinal gave the Spartans a brief 2-1 lead in the third, but Cayuga trailed 3-2 in the fourth when they plated four to make it 6-3. Espinal, Caleb Delly, Alex Gaudet and Brandon Hoftijzer drove-in runs to temporarily give Cayuga the lead.

The Vikings responded with four of their own in the bottom of the fourth and carried an 8-7 lead into the seventh. With two outs, Perez singled through the left side, scoring Messina to tie the game. The Vikings, though, scored the winning run in the eighth.

Perez went two-for-three with a double and two runs scored in the second game, and Korsky and Norton both went one-for-three with a run scored.

The Spartans are back home Saturday to host Jefferson Community College. First pitch is scheduled for noon at Falcon Park.