DALLAS, Pa. (May 16, 2021) – The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball program earned a split against Misericordia University in the first two games of the MAC Freedom Championship series Sunday, winning game one 15-5 before dropping game two 8-1.

With the split, the Ducks and Cougars will now play in a winner-take-all game three Monday in Hoboken, N.J. with the conference title and an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament on the line.

Stevens' record moved to 24-11 with the split while Misericordia went to 26-8. With the win in game one, the Ducks snapped the Cougars 16-game winning streak, handing them their first loss since the two teams last played each other in Hoboken on April 13.

"Just like last week, it comes down to game three on Monday," head coach Kristaps Aldins said. "We did a great job taking game one today and then Misericordia returned the favor in game two."

Stevens scored early and often in game one, jumping ahead in the top of the second on a solo homer into left center off the bat of first-year Johnny Albrecht who is now tied for the team-lead with seven long balls this season.

The Cougars responded in the bottom of the frame, taking a 2-1 lead off graduate student Chandler Brierley on a hit-by-pitch, a triple and an error. The First Team All-MAC Freedom honoree settled in from there, though, as he got a lineout and a groundout to end the threat and strand a runner on third.

The Ducks then tacked on three runs in the top of the third and never trailed after that as Brierley (5-3) did not allow a runner past second base through his next three innings on the hill.

In the third, junior Ryan Finegan led the inning off with a single and sophomore Ben Tobio followed it up with a hit-by-pitch to put two on with no outs.

Junior Brett Mendez bunted them into scoring position, and they were both able to race home on back-to-back wild pitches to give Stevens a 3-2 lead.

The inning was not done there as senior Nate Zuckerman walked, advanced to second and third on two wild pitches and came home on a sacrifice fly to right off the bat of senior Thomas Paulich.

The score remained 5-2 until the top of the fifth when Stevens added three more to break the game open.

The fifth started similarly to the third with Finegan and Tobio both reaching base on a walk and a single, respectively, to open the inning and Mendez bunting both into scoring position.

This time the runs were not aided by wild pitches, however, as Zuckerman, Paulich and sophomore Michael Reyes all hit RBI singles to push the lead to five.

One inning later, Stevens was able to swell the lead to eight with another three-run inning that featured two hits and a pair of Misericordia errors.

Tobio started the rally with a one-out walk, moved to second when Zuckerman was hit by a pitch and raced over to third on an error by Kyle Kane on the mound.

With two away, the Ducks got a clutch RBI single through the left side from Paulich and, after a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases, Reyes brought home two more with a bases loaded single up the middle to make the score 10- 2.

The Cougars were able to climb back into the game in the bottom of the sixth when senior Austin Miles ripped a double to left field with the bases juiced to clear the bases and cut the deficit to 10-5.

Sophomore Leo Bristow, who came on in relief of Brierley to start the frame, settled in from there though, getting a groundout and back-to-back flyouts to end the inning and strand Miles in scoring position.

Stevens put the game away in the top of the seventh with its third consecutive three-run inning to push the lead back up to eight.

Junior Chris Silos drew a walk to lead off the inning and Finnegan followed with a single to put two on with no outs.

After a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, Mendez laced a two-RBI single into center field to plate both runs. Mendez, an Honorable Mention All-MAC Freedom selection, moved to second on a walk by Zuckerman, stole third and came in to score on Paulich's second sacrifice fly of the day.

The offensive onslaught did not stop there, however, as the Ducks tacked on two more in the eighth when Reyes and first-year Christian Kreiser hit back-to-back doubles to score one run and Tobio lifted a sacrifice fly to right to make the lead 10 at 15-5.

First-year Jacob Buurman, who came on in relief of Bristow, shut things down from there as he allowed just two hits and punched out three over the final three frames to earn his first collegiate save.

Offensively, Stevens got three-hit games from Paulich (who led the team with four RBIs), Albrecht, Reyes and Finegan while all nine starters reached base safely in the contest.

The 15 runs in a single game are the third-most of the season for the Ducks who have now scored in double figures 11 times this year.

Game two was much tougher sledding offensively for Stevens as the Cougars sent Second Team All-MAC Freedom pitcher Brendan Gray to the mound for the start.

Misericordia struck first with a run in the bottom of the opening frame on an RBI groundout and added another in the second thanks to an RBI single off the bat of Joe Liscio.

The lead swelled to four in the third when the Cougars rallied with two outs, using a hit-by-pitch, a walk a single and wild pitch plated a pair of runs.

Stevens was able to get on the board in the top of the fourth when Albrecht opened the inning with a double and eventually came around to score on an RBI single to right off the bat of junior Chris Silos.

With the score still 4-1 in the top of the sixth, the Ducks were able to chase Gray from the game when a single, a walk and an error loaded the bases with two outs.

The Cougars then handed the ball to their other all-conference pitcher, reliever Tyler Leonard, who got a pop out to end the threat.

MU put the game away in the bottom of the seventh with a four-run frame highlighted by a two-run homer off the bat of Second Team All-MAC Freedom second baseman Brady Madden.

Senior Tyler Armstrong was able to get the final out of the frame and tossed a scoreless inning in the eighth to keep the score at 8-1.

Stevens could not muster another run offensively, though, falling in the second game of the doubleheader to force a game three for the second consecutive series in the conference tourney.

Albrecht continued his hot streak in game two, going 2 for 4 with a run scored. In the doubleheader, the Second Team All-Conference selection went 5 for 9 with a home run, an RBI and a pair of runs scored as he has now hit safely in six of the seven conference tournament games the Ducks have played in.

Finegan, meanwhile, extended his hitting streak to nine straight games and is now 12 for 25 with seven runs scored, eight RBIs and two long balls in the MAC Freedom Tournament.

"I know our Ducks squad will be ready for tomorrow and give it everything they have to win this conference title," Aldins said.

Next Up: The final game of the conference championship will take place at Dobbelaar Field at 3:00 p.m. on Monday. In six matchups this season, Stevens and Misericordia are now 3-3 against each other on the year after splitting the regular season contest in April. The Cougars will serve as the home team on the scoreboard by virtue of being the highest remaining seed in the series.

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