Baseball Splits Doubleheader with CCNY

HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 16, 2014) – The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team splits its CUNYAC doubleheader with the City College of New York on Sunday at Dobbelaar Field. Stevens won Game One, 8-4, but fell in Game Two, 7-5. The Ducks are now 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the CUNYAC.

Game One: Stevens 8, CCNY 4

Sophomore Jayson Yano (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) made a terrific leaping play to snag a line drive off the bat of Bobby McDowell to begin the double dip, but CCNY crossed one run over the plate in the first inning after a walk and single put two runners on. After a failed pick-off throw went into centerfield allowed one runner to go to third, a stolen base gave the Beavers runners on second and third with one out. CCNY then singled up the middle for the opening run in Game One.

The Ducks answered in the bottom half of the first with three runs on just one hit. Yano started the rally with a one-out single to center field and the next four batters walked to push two runs across the dish. Sophomore Tyler Bush (Bristol, Conn.) then hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored freshman Zeph Walters (Diamond Bar, Calif.) for the final run of the frame. CCNY centerfielder, McDowell, made a diving catch on the sacrifice fly that prevented the Ducks from scoring at least one more run.

Stevens scored three more times in the second on an RBI groundout from Yano and two-run homerun from Walters. Freshman Michael Mule' (Boca Raton, Fla.) came home on the Yano groundout  after he made his way to third base on a triple to right-center and senior Dan Allen (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) was driven in after he walked on the Walters blast to right field.

CCNY struck again in the fourth on a solo homer from Mike Smith on the first pitch of the inning to give the Beavers their second run. The Beavers recorded runs in the sixth and seventh on RBI singles to account for their offense.

Sophomore Marc Calleo (Bayville, N.J.) put the Ducks up by six runs on a two-RBI single in the bottom of the fifth that brought home Bush and freshman Garrett Wells (Manhattan Beach, Calif.). Bush and Wells both made their way on base on walks and then moved up on a balk.

The Ducks walked 10 times as a team in the opener.

Sophomore Robert Robbins (Tallahassee, Fla.) picked up the Game One victory in five innings of work. Robbins struck out four batters and scattered four hits with two walks and a pair of earned runs.

Freshman Brett Viola (Carmel, N.Y.) entered in the sixth for an inning of relief and struck out two hitters and allowed one run. Junior Gary Boardman (Staten Island, N.Y.) tossed the final inning and gave up an unearned one with a strikeout.

Game Two: CCNY 7, Stevens 5

Stevens struggled offensively in Game Two, as it only recorded three hits as a team but walked seven times.

CCNY strung together three base hits and benefitted from two wild pitches in the second inning to take an early 1-0 lead in the game.

The Beavers went up, 3-0, in the third on a questionable two-run round-tripper from Gabriel Pena to dead center field after Smith drew a walk with two outs. There was a debate after the call on the field was made whether or not the ball actually cleared the center field fence or not.

Stevens put together a two-run, two-out rally in its half of the third thanks to a pair of infield errors by the Beavers. Mule' and Yano drew walks and came around to score on back-to-back errors off the bats of junior Brian Hennelly (Holbrook, N.Y.) and sophomore Nicholas Sieber (Shrewsbury, Mass.).

CCNY got one run back in the fourth on an RBI double from Yoribaldis Olivo that drove in Jacob Sonenshine.

In the bottom of the fourth, Mule' reached on an error, stole second and moved up to third on a wild pitch. Senior Curt Lowenstein (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) was awarded first on a hit by pitch and stole second to set up two runners in scoring position for Yano. Yano stroked a base hit to center that brought Mule' in to score, but Lowenstein was gunned down at the plate for the game-tying run.

The Beavers responded with a three-spot in the top of the fifth to build their lead to 7-3 on three hits, but Stevens came right back with two runs in the bottom half to bring the contest to a 7-5 difference. The Ducks had a chance to deadlock the ballgame with the bases loaded but flew out to end the inning. Stevens walked four times in the fifth and scored its runs on an error and fielder's choice.

The Ducks were retired in order in the sixth and grounded into three fielder's choices in the seventh to end the game.

Walters took the loss in 3.2 innings pitched. He surrendered four runs on five hits with two walks and fanned six.

Junior Matt Buccheri (Little Silver, N.J.) tossed 1.1 innings and allowed three runs on three hits, while sophomore Greg Jakusik (The Woodlands, Texas) fired two perfect innings and punched out two batters.

Stevens plays another CUNYAC doubleheader against the College of Staten Island on March 22 at 12 p.m. The Ducks will then play No. 13 Rowan University on the 23rd at 1 p.m.

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