HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 7, 2017)  – The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team rallied for two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, but were unable to push the tying runs across, and fell to No. 16/No. 20 The College of New Jersey Tuesday afternoon at Dobbelaar Field.

Freshman A.J. Falconite homered in his first career start behind the plate and senior Nolan Bennett drew a bases loaded walk, but TCNJ touched starter Andrew Hamel (0-2) for three runs in the first inning, which proved to be too much for the Ducks to overcome.

"TCNJ is a good team," head coach Kristaps Aldins said. "Unfortunately, we spotted them three runs in the top of the first, which we, ultimately, were not able to overcome, despite some late rallies."

Down 5-1, the Ducks rallied for a pair of runs off reliever Brandon Zachary. Sophomore pinch hitter Donny Gherardi led off with a walk and moved to second after freshman Eric Zickert also worked a walk of the TCNJ reliever. With two runners on and Zachary struggling to find the strike zone, freshman Shaye Bartnick was nicked by a pitch to load the bases. After a mound visit, Zachary's struggles continued as the right-hander walked Bennett to force in a run.  

With the bases now loaded, TCNJ brought in closer Matt Curry to face the heart of the Stevens lineup. Senior Zeph Walters grounded into a double play to score an additional run, but Curry was able to get freshman Patrick Rood to ground out to end the inning.

TCNJ built its lead on the bat of first baseman Alex Christian and the right arm of Michael Fischer (1-0). Christian hit a pair of long, two-run home runs off Hamel and Fischer scattered four hits over six innings for the Lions, who were playing in their season opener after a pair of weather-related postponements.

Erik Rano walked to lead off the game, but was quickly caught stealing on a perfect throw by Falconite. The catcher nabbed two TCNJ runners at second on the afternoon. After striking out Pat Anderson for the second out, Hamel gave up a single to Zachary Shindler, who promptly stole second. After working the count in his favor, Hamel induced a ground ball from Austin Lindsay, but Zickert's throw sailed high, allowing Schindler to score from second. Christian followed, blasting his first home run of the game to straightaway center field to give the guests a 3-0 lead.

After Christian's homer, Hamel found his groove, retiring 13 of the next 16 batters. The lanky left-hander finished with nine strikeouts, but again ran into TCNJ's power hitter in the sixth, who blasted his second home run of the game to extend the lead to 5-1.

Hamel allowed six hits and walked only one in his longest outing of the season. Freshmen Chris Cap and Chandler Brierley teamed with sophomore Charlie Ruegger to fire three scoreless innings, keeping Stevens in the game. 

"The bullpen today was outstanding and our starter, Andrew Hamel, certainly pitched well enough to win," Aldins added.

The Ducks again threatened in the ninth. Senior Michael Mule' led off with a walk and advanced to third base on a passed ball, but Curry struck out pinch-hitter P.J. Wiegartner to end the game and earn his first save.

Up Next: Stevens takes on the New Jersey City University Gothic Knights in a non-conference game at Dobbelaar Field Friday afternoon. The game was originally scheduled for March 1, but was rescheduled due to inclement weather.

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