ITHACA, N.Y. (March 25, 2018)  – Junior Danny Poidomani struck out a season-high 11 over eight solid innings and freshman Nathan Zuckerman snapped a scoreless tie with a fifth-inning RBI double, leading the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team to a 7-2 victory over Ithaca College Sunday to split the team's Empire 8 Conference-opening doubleheader.

Junior Matthew Pasko collected four hits, drove in a pair and scored twice for the Ducks, who dropped the opener 4-3, but rallied behind Poidomani's left arm to win the nightcap. Stevens improved to 8-9 on the season and 1-1 in league play.

Wes Little and Sam Little each collected two RBI for the Bombers, who saw their four-game winning streak come to an end. Ithaca fell to 8-6 on the year and 1-1 in E8 action.

"Two hard-fought games today," began head coach Kristaps Aldins. "It was great to see our team show some grit and determination to come away with the win in game two."

After falling in the first game, Poidomani (2-1) kept the Ithaca offense at bay, allowing just two runs on six hits over eight innings to earn his second victory of the season. The left-hander leads the Empire 8 Conference in strikeouts (44) and has punched out eight or more in four straight appearances. 

Ithaca's Jake Binder (2-1) matched Poidomani through four innings before the Ducks broke through in the fifth. Junior Carlos Leon reached on a fielding error to lead off the inning and then advanced to second on his fifth stolen base of the season and moved to third on a one-out passed ball. Zuckerman drove Binder's 1-0 pitch to right center to score Leon with the first run of the game. Senior Tommy Baronner was hit by and pitch and Pasko singled to load the bases. Zuckerman scored the second run of the game on a fielder's choice. Senior Alex Detweiler walked to reload the bases, but a groundout ended the threat.

Stevens broke the game open one inning later, taking advantage of a pair of Ithaca errors to score five runs. The Bombers totaled six errors in game two and nine over the two games. Junior Donny Gherardi opened the inning with a six-pitch walk. After a pitching change, Leon reached on an error by Marco Fontana, who was unable to hold onto Cam Fuoti's throw on the Boca Raton, Florida native's sacrifice bunt attempt. Freshman Ambrose Consol walked to load the bases. Robby Buffis walked Zuckerman on five pitches to force in a run, ending the right-handed reliever's day after just three batters.

Tom Consentino followed and Baronner greeted the new pitcher with a seeing-eye single through the left side of the infield. Pasko followed with a two-run single to left to push the lead to 6-0. Baronner scored the final run of the inning on a Fuoti throwing error.

Ithaca broke through against Poidomani in the sixth on Sam Little's two-run single. Freshman Joseph Deitz pitched a scoreless ninth. The Austin, Texas native has not given up a run in three of his last four outings.

After topping Arcadia Saturday on Leon's extra-inning walk-off single, it was Ithaca that plated the winning run in dramatic fashion to take the opener. 

A pitcher's duel for six innings, the teams combined for six runs in the final inning to account for most of the scoring.

Consol led off the seventh with a single to right and advanced to second on Zuckerman's sacrifice bunt. Baronner walked after an eight-pitch at-bat, forcing an Ithaca pitching change. Matt Eiel (1-0) relieved Jack Morello and induced a fielder's choice groundout from Pasko to retire Baronner at second. The speedy shortstop promptly stole second and joined Consol in scoring when Wes Little misplayed freshman Thomas Paulich's grounder. The infielder was picked off to end the threat.

Junior Charlie Ruegger (1-2) cruised through the first six innings, allowing just two hits and struck out eight, including consecutive strikeouts in the second to strand a runner at third. The right-hander has struck out at least seven in every start this season, but ran into trouble in the seventh. 

After striking out Garrett Snyder to open the frame, Ruegger hit Matt Carey with a 0-1 pitch. Cam Fuoti singled to advance Carey to third. Another hit batsman advanced pinch-runner Jack Lynch to second and loaded the bases. Little redeemed himself for his earlier fielding error with a two-run single to draw Ithaca within one, prompting a pitching change. Andrew Bailey hit Drew Hanke's first pitch into center field to tie the game and move the winning run to third. Hanke intentionally walked Sam Little to again load the bases. The right-handed reliever struck out Marco Fontana for the second out of the inning, but Adam Gallagher reached on a fielding error to force in the winning run.

Up Next: Baseball wraps up its three-game series with Ithaca Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Facebook: "Like" Stevens Athletics         
Twitter: @stevensducks
Instagram: @stevensducks
Snapchat: ducks_athletics
#AllRise