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TROY, N.Y. - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's (RPI) sixth inning rally was not enough as they fell to Ithaca in the Liberty League Tournament, 5-3. The second-seeded Bombers advance to Saturday's conference championship game at 12pm.

Senior Sarah Harms took the circle for the Engineers, allowing no runs in her last two starts against St. Lawrence and Union (13 innings). The Bombers ended that streak in the first, after a one-out walk by Vanessa Brown, and back-to-back singles by Alex Wright and Hannah Anderson, the second scoring Brown. Hannah Peters flied out to end the inning as the Bombers got out to the early 1-0 lead.

Rensselaer looked to even things up as they went up against Beth Fleming. After two straight outs to start the home half of the inning, sophomore shortstop Cam Caswell stepped up and smashed a ball over the right field wall, tying the game at 1-1.

After a scoreless second, the Bombers went right back to it in the top of the third. Leadoff hitter Allie Colleran led the inning off with a single and moved up after stealing second. Gabby Laconna slapped a single through the left side, scoring Colleran.

Colleran moved to third base after stealing second and moving to third on a single by Brown. Two batters later, Anderson came up and grounded out to second, scoring Colleran, and giving the Bombers a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the third.

After a Rebecca Kienz walk and a Victoria Greco hit-by-pitch, the Bombers made a double-switch, putting Shannon Grage in the circle, and moving Frankie-Ann McCauley behind the plate. Fleming finished her 2.1 innings allowing one earned run off one hit, two walks, and five strikeouts.

Against her first batter, Grage threw a wild pitch, moving both Kienz and Greco into scoring position. Caswell drew a walk to load the bases, but Grage was able to escape trouble, forcing a Christine White popup to the shortstop and an Allie Hunt groundout to third.

In the top of the fifth, the Bombers were looking at their third time through the order, and Harms did not return to the circle, relieved by Jamie Cleasby. Harms, tacked with the loss (16-6) pitched four complete innings, allowing four runs (three earned), six hits, one walk, and one strikeout.

Grage stepped in the box for her first at-bat in the sixth inning, smashing a leadoff double off the center field wall, and moved to third after a sacrifice bunt by Emily Bloom. Abby Shields came up to pinch-hit for Ellie Murray, and lined a ball right back to Cleasby to make it two outs. Cleasby then struck out Nikkey Skuraton to get out of the inning unscathed.

The Engineers didn't have much time left to ignite their offense, and they got things going in the sixth. Christine White led the inning off with an infield single. Hunt smashed a ball to deep center, where it was mishandled by Bloom, and the Engineers now had runners on first and second with no one down.

Maddie Provencher came up as the tying run and ripped a double down the left field line, which scored White and moved Hunt up to third, cutting the RPI deficit to 4-2. After a Devan Puhl groundout, Chelsea Elliott pinch-hit for Steph Cavallaro and grounded out to shortstop, but it did score Hunt from third, cutting the lead in half. Kyla Anderson also came on as a pinch-hitter for Kienz, but grounded out to first to end the inning, with Ithaca clinging to a 4-3 lead.

Colleran led off the top of the seventh for Ithaca and she smacked a 1-1 pitch over the left field wall, extending the Bombers' lead to 5-3. Cleasby allowed a single to Wright, but exited the seventh with no further damage. 

Cleasby pitched three innings and allowed one earned run, three hits, no walks, and three strikeouts.

As both teams came out for the bottom of the seventh, Haley Congdon entered the circle for the Bombers, looking for the save. Grage (2-1) was awarded the win and pitched 3.2 innings, giving up two runs (one earned), three hits, one walk, and two strikeouts.

After hitting a ball that was determined to be just foul, Veronica DeStefano slashed a double down the left field line. Greco came up next and hit a popup to second, and Caswell stepped up for fourth plate appearance. The sophomore smashed a ball to shortstop, which ate up Anderson, and Caswell was safe at first. White stepped up again and dunked a single into center field, moving both runners up.

Hunt came up with the bases loaded and hit a ball to the shortstop, who threw home to catch DeStefano for the second out. Provencher stepped in as the last hope for the Engineers, but popped up to third base, ending the game. Congdon earned her third save in her one inning of work, allowing two hits.

Colleran and Wright both went 2 for 4 at the plate, while Anderson had two RBI, and Colleran, Laccona, and Skuraton each added one of their own.

For RPI, White led the way offensively, going 2 for 3 and a run scored. Caswell, Provencher, and Elliott each had one RBI.

Ithaca's final line as a team was five runs on nine hits, two errors, and six runners left on base. Rensselaer scored three runs on six hits, had three errors, and left nine runners on.

Ithaca advances to the championship game on Saturday, while Rensselaer plays again today at 2:30pm and will take on the winner of this afternoon's game between Union and Rochester..