Elmira, N.Y. – The SUNY Poly baseball team put together an explosive offensive showing on Sunday, sweeping a doubleheader on the road against Elmira by scores of 12–6 in game one and 19–6 in game two. The Wildcats used timely hitting and big innings in both contests, while also celebrating a historic milestone from Luke Landis, who broke the program's all-time home run record during the opener.
GAME ONE:
SUNY Poly came out aggressive early, putting runners on base in each of the first two innings, but were unable to capitalize. That changed in the third, when Luke Landis launched a solo home run to left to open the scoring. Later in the inning, Jackson Mackenzie doubled and came around to score on an Elmira error, giving the Wildcats a 2–0 advantage.
Elmira threatened multiple times through the middle innings but was held off the scoreboard until the sixth. The Soaring Eagles erupted for four runs in the frame, highlighted by a two-run homer from Brady Buttice and a solo shot from Connor Stone, flipping the game in their favor at 4–2.
SUNY Poly responded in the seventh with a clutch rally. Mackenzie singled and Derek Holmes followed with a double to put two runners in scoring position. Carter Hufland drove in a run with a groundout, and Chris Baker added a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 4–4.
Elmira regained the lead in the bottom half with an RBI double from Stone, but the Wildcats answered emphatically in the eighth inning. Landis delivered the decisive blow, crushing a three-run homer to center to put SUNY Poly back on top. The Wildcats continued to pile on, taking advantage of multiple Elmira errors to score seven runs in the inning and build an 11–5 lead.
SUNY Poly added one more in the ninth on an RBI single from Hufland, while Elmira pushed across a late run, but the Wildcats closed out the 12–6 victory to take the opener.
GAME TWO:
The Wildcats wasted no time carrying their momentum into game two, erupting for six runs in the first inning. Landis drove in two with a double, while Carter Hufland, Mike Lazaridis, and Brody Liddy each contributed RBI hits as SUNY Poly capitalized on three Elmira errors.
SUNY Poly continued to pour it on in the second, adding two more runs behind RBI hits from Derek Holmes and Will Orlando to extend the lead to 8–0. Elmira got on the board with a solo home run from Connor Stone in the bottom half, but the Wildcats quickly answered.
In the third, Landis struck again with an RBI double, and SUNY Poly kept building its advantage. The fourth inning saw Lazaridis deliver a two-run single, and in the fifth, Landis blasted his second home run of the day—a two-run shot—while Holmes tripled and Mackenzie doubled to push the lead to 14–4.
The Wildcats broke the game wide open in the sixth with a five-run inning. Holmes delivered a two-run single, Orlando drew an RBI walk, Lazaridis added a sacrifice fly, and Chris Baker capped the frame with an RBI double as SUNY Poly stretched the lead to 19–4.
Elmira managed a pair of runs in the sixth, but SUNY Poly's pitching staff shut things down the rest of the way. The Wildcats held Elmira scoreless over the final two innings to secure the 19–6 win and complete the doubleheader sweep.
Landis headlined the day with multiple home runs across both games, including the record-breaking blast in game one, as SUNY Poly's offense combined for 31 runs in a dominant road performance.
