HOUGHTON, N.Y. — Christian Fava still had two more outs to get in game two as Cade McGuire represented the winning run for Genesee. On a 1-1 count, the southpaw dealt a nasty slider that McGuire dribbled to shortstop. Will Kinney scooped up the grounder and flipped to Joe Wike at second, who fired to first for a game-ending double play.

Timely hitting propelled the Syracuse Spartans (3-4-1, 7 points) to a doubleheader sweep of the Genesee Rapids (4-5, 8 points). Every Syracuse batter recorded a hit in game one, and the Spartans racked up three runs in each of the final three frames to take the opener 10-4. In game two, the visitors put up a four-spot on four hits in the second and never looked back, holding onto a 5-4 win.

In game one, the Spartans jumped on Genesee’s starter, Jordan Talbot, with four straight hits in the top of the first inning. Tanner De Grazia, Joe Wike and Adam Sullivan set the table for Robert Johnston, who cracked an RBI single to left field. Gavin Miller looked sharp in the bottom of the frame for Syracuse, forcing an inning-ending double play.

Vince Gamberdella started the second strong for the Spartans, turning on a 2-2 curveball from Talbot and lining a single to right field. The catcher would steal second base easily after the Rapids failed to cover, but the Syracuse offense could not drive him home. Miller mowed down Genesee’s 4-5-6 hitters in the second with a strikeout, keeping the visitors in front after two.

The Rapids took the lead in the bottom of the third thanks to heads-up baserunning. With runners on first and second and no outs, Grant Hartley and Nolan Knight executed a double steal. The Spartans helped out the home team by throwing the ball away, allowing both runners to score. Miller would prevent further damage, but the Rapids took a 2-1 lead.

Base hits by Gamberdella and Brendan Flynn and a walk by Zach Garcia loaded the bases for the Spartans with one out in the fourth. However, Talbot got Will Kinney to ground into an inning-ending double play, stranding all three runners.

Genesee threatened again in the fourth, with runners on first and second to start the frame. After the Rapids dugout yelled out a designed play, Miller deceptively stepped off the mound and picked off Aidan Stern between second and third. The George Washington product struck out Josh Mueller and got Shay Allis on a force play for the third out, keeping the score at 2-1.

Johnston powered the Spartans’ offense to another lead, this time in the fifth inning. Wike and Sullivan notched back-to-back singles for the second time, then the Framingham State product delivered with an RBI single to center. Sullivan got caught in a pickle between third and home, but the Rapids committed two crucial errors to score him and Johnston all the way from first. Once the dust settled at home plate, the Spartans led 4-2.

“We took advantage on their one big mistake on Johnston’s single. From there, we kept competing and competing. They did a really nice job offensively,” head coach Christian Lalomia said.

But Genesee came right back, tying the contest in the bottom of the frame. A walk and RBI single knocked Miller out of the game, then a bases-loaded free pass brought in Eli MacDonald for the Rapids’ tying run. With the bases still juiced and one out, right-hander Casey Vaughn kept the Spartans afloat. Pitching in back-to-back nights, the Siena freshman struck out one and forced a popout to keep the game tied.

Syracuse delivered the knockout blow in the sixth, tallying three to go back in front. Garcia crushed a double off the right-field fence, then came home on an RBI single from Tanner De Grazia to give the Spartans a 5-4 lead. Sullivan’s third hit of the contest, an RBI single, scored De Grazia, and Ryan Pelton’s base hit scored Wike to make it 7-4.

After a scoreless inning from Vaughn, Syracuse tacked on three more in the seventh, its third straight frame scoring three times. Kinney struck a two-run triple down the right-field line, then De Grazia shot a liner down the left-field line for his second RBI, extending the visitor’s lead to 10-4.

Vaughn continued his dominance on the mound, polishing off a game-one win with his third scoreless inning. The right-hander allowed one hit over three frames with three walks and two strikeouts in his second career appearance.

“[Vaughn]’s got electric stuff. [His] fastball, it’s got good life to it and good carry in the zone,” Lalomia said.

Like game one, the Spartans slashed their way to an early 1-0 lead in the first. Kinney smashed an opposite-field single to start the contest off Genesee starter Mason Bonono, then dove head-first into second for a stolen base. After advancing to third on a balk, the Syracuse shortstop touched home on an RBI groundout by Johnston for the game’s first run.

A sacrifice fly by the Rapids off Spartans starter, Creighton Wesson, tied the game at one. But Syracuse’s offense responded in the second, plating four more runs on four hits. An error by Genesee put Tyler Gendron in scoring position for Gamberdella, who drove him in on a single to right. Josh Gilkey followed with a sacrifice fly, extending Syracuse’s lead to 3-1. With two outs, Kinney and Johnston cracked a double and triple, plating the third and fourth runners of the inning.

The Rapids would tack runs in the second and third innings and threatened to tie the game with two outs and runners on second and third in the fourth. Wesson escaped trouble, inducing a flyout to Gilkey in center for the third out, keeping the Spartans in front 5-3 after four.

After Syracuse came up empty in the top of the fifth, Genesee got one run closer when Dalton Cody rocketed a leadoff homer to right field. The Rapids put the tying run on base, but Perry Chetney gunned down MacDonald at second for the third out, keeping the Spartans in front 5-4.

Christian Fava entered in relief for the Spartans and spun a scoreless sixth. The southpaw struck out Tucker Williams for the first out. Later, with a runner on first and two outs, the Ottawa University product whiffed Rion Kojima to keep the Rapids off the board.

In its last chance at-bat, Fava silenced Genesee, securing a doubleheader sweep for Syracuse. The Rapids brought the winning run to the plate, but McGuire hit a dribbler to second that Kinney turned into a 6-4-3 game-ending double play.

“It feels nice to come out on top, especially in a one-run game where we lost a few so far this year,” Lalomia said.

The Spartans travel to Rochester to take on the Rochester Ridgemen on Thursday night. First pitch from Basket Road Field is set for 6:00. Fans can listen to the Spartans’ radio broadcast by visiting our website, https://syracusespartans.com/live/.