SHERRILL, N.Y. — After gunning down Sherrill’s game-tying runner at the plate, Syracuse came up to bat in the eighth looking to deliver the knockout blow. With run one already home, Robert Johnston smacked a line drive single to left field, extending the Spartans’ lead to four.

The Syracuse Spartans (6-8-1, 13 points) used a six-run eighth inning to power past Sherrill Silversmiths (7-5, 14 points) 13-5 on Thursday night. Brendan Flynn launched his first homer of the season, a go-ahead shot to right in the sixth, and the Spartans fended off a seventh-inning rally by the Silversmiths before breaking the game open. Creighton Wesson earned his second win starting for Syracuse, tossing six innings of five-run ball with four walks and six strikeouts. The Spartans won their second straight game and are tied with the Syracuse Salt Cats for fourth place in the Eastern Division.

Joe Wike powered the Spartans to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The Eckerd College product turned on a 1-2 fastball from Sherrill’s starter, Andrew Roden, blasting a flyball toward left field. All Davin Keddell-Tuckey could do was watch as the ball sailed over his head and the fence, a solo shot for Wike. The second baseman’s second longball of the season put Syracuse in front by a run.

Wesson started on the bump for the Spartans and got help from his infielders right from the get-go. The Spartans turned a nifty inning-ending 5-4-3 double play, helping the right-hander escape initial trouble.

Roden struck out the side in the top of two, featuring a mid-80s fastball and slow-bending curveball to set Syracuse down in order. The Silversmiths looked poised to tie or take the lead in the bottom of the frame, moving runners to second and third on a double steal. Wesson remained calm under pressure, forcing newly selected NACSB prospect Edem Okpattah to fly out in shallow right, then punching out Justin Hurd on an 0-2 slider for the third out.

But Sherrill did not let up, finally breaking through in the bottom of the third. Michael Benedetto and Brandyn Durand ambushed Wesson with back-to-back first-pitch RBI singles, putting the home team in front 2-1. Jeph Hadson-Taylor tacked on another with a sacrifice fly, making it 3-1 Sherrill after three.

Adam Sullivan and Jacob Bowman both notched one-out singles, giving Syracuse life in the fourth. Silversmiths reliever Joseph Hartnett worked out of the jam, whiffing Vince Gamberdella, then Flynn struck out on a nasty 3-2 slider to keep the Spartans at one run.

Wesson settled back into a groove, striking out two Silversmiths in a 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth. 

Robert Johnston’s two-out single and a Sherrill error put another Spartan in scoring position, but Hartnett got Tanner De Grazia to pop out. Syracuse left four runners on base through the first five frames.

After Wesson kept the home team scoreless in the fifth, the right-hander got help from a familiar face in the sixth. Bowman would get the Spartans closer with a sac fly, making it 3-2. Then, Brendan Flynn, a teammate of Wesson’s at Salve Regina University, stepped up to the plate with two outs and Gamberdella on first. In a lefty-lefty matchup, Flynn crushed a fastball from Hartnett out to right field. What might be a routine flyball at any other NYCBL ballpark proved too much for Noyes Park’s 235-foot right-field fence, sailing out of the stadium for a homer. Flynn’s first collegiate blast put Syracuse in front 4-3 through six.

“I was just trying to be on time. I was a little late in the first two at-bats. I got one out front and it went out,” Flynn said.

The Spartans got more insurance in the sixth when Zach Garcia singled and raced home on a wild pitch. De Grazia’s sac fly to left scored Johnston from third, extending the visitor’s lead to 6-3.

“I think that inning where we put up three kind of sparked us,” Flynn said. “It got the energy going. It was a little dead to start but the boys came through.”

But the Silversmiths weren’t done offensively, knocking Wesson out of the game after their first two runners reached base in the seventh. Josh Martin immediately allowed Wesson’s two runners to score on Keddell-Tuckey’s single, making it 6-5 Syracuse. Still down a run with two outs, Sherrill would load the bases for its slugger Okpattah. The righty took a ball to start his at-bat. On the catcher Gamberdella’s throw back to Martin, Keddell-Tuckey broke from third for home plate. The right-hander quickly tossed back to Gamberdella, who tagged out the diving runner at home. In the most unlikely of events, the Spartans retained a one-run lead to the eighth.

And Syracuse took off from there, plating six runs on five hits in the eighth. Bowman’s second hit, another single, followed by a hit-by-pitch and single by Flynn loaded the bags with no outs for pinch-hitter Lance Phillips. The infielder took a pitch off the shoulder for an RBI, then Johnston’s base knock scored two more. De Grazia beat out an infield hit, plating Phillips from third for Syracuse’s fourth run of the inning. Another RBI single from Wike complemented by a Sullivan sac fly capped off a monster, sixth run eighth. It was the second straight night that the Spartans tallied six runs in an inning, and they held a 12-5 lead with six more outs to get.

Wade Lawson made his Syracuse debut on the mound and showcased a little rust early on, walking two batters. Nonetheless, the Pomona-Pitzer College sophomore escaped the jam without allowing a run in the eighth. The right-hander got another insurance run on Johnston’s sac fly in the ninth. Lawson came back out in the ninth, retiring the Silversmiths 1-2-3 on five pitches to secure the win for the Spartans.

The Spartans return home to battle the Syracuse Salt Cats on Friday night. First pitch from the Onondaga Community College Sports Complex is set for 7:00. Fans can watch the Spartans’ live broadcast by visiting our website, https://syracusespartans.com/live/.