BALTIMORE, Md. (March 11, 2018) – Freshman Ambrose Consol hit his first collegiate home run and junior Charlie Ruegger struck out seven as the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team won its third straight game with a 5-4, come-from-behind victory over No. 17 Johns Hopkins University Sunday to open the program's annual Spring Break Trip.

Freshman Nathan Zuckerman had a pair of hits, including a two-run single and sophomore Patrick Rood scored twice for the Ducks, who moved to 4-4 on the year.

Tim Kutcher had three hits and Mike Eberle drove in two for the Blue Jays, who fell to 4-4.

Stevens improved to 4-0 all-time against Johns Hopkins, including wins in each of the last two seasons. The teams renewed their series in 2017 after not having met since 1936.

"Every once in awhile you get involved in a good one and today was a fun ballgame to be a part of," said head coach Kristaps Aldins. "Chuck gritted through seven innings and we got some very timely hits to give us the lead in the later innings. Very proud of our team and their efforts this entire weekend. We will enjoy an off day tomorrow and begin our preparation for Piedmont on Tuesday."

Ruegger (1-1) worked around baserunners in every inning in earning his first career victory as a starting pitcher. The Morris Plains, New Jersey native allowed four runs on 14 hits in seven innings.

Freshman Joseph Deitz struck out three in two innings to earn his first collegiate save. The Austin, Texas struck out Mike Smith with the winning run on second base to thwart Hopkins' ninth-inning rally. Deitz hasn't allowed an earned run in four of his five appearances this season.

"Joe Deitz came in and shut the door in the eighth and ninth," Aldins commented.

Hopkins struck first, plating single runs in the second and third. Frank Clara connected for a one-out double to right field. Ruegger hit Dillon Bowman. Kutcher slapped Ruegger's 0-1 pitch into left center to score Clara with the first run of the game. The right-hander rebounded to induce a double play ball to end the threat.

Three straight singles loaded the bases for Johns Hopkins with no one out in the third. Eberle hit a ball back to Ruegger for an infield single to score Chris Festa with the second run of the game.

While Hopkins was taking an early lead, Nick Burns was keeping the hot Stevens bats off the board. Coming into the game with 14 runs over their last two games, the Ducks didn't record their first hit until Consol's fifth-inning home run. Rood drove Burns' first pitching of the inning to the wall in right. Kutcher tried to rob the second baseman of an extra-base hit, but the ball glanced off his glove. Rood ended up at third and the play was ruled a three-base error. Consol followed and drove the next pitch into the sunny Baltimore sky for his first career home run to spoil both the no-hit bid and the shutout in one swing. Burns allowed two runs, one earned, in five innings of work.

Stevens grabbed the lead in the sixth. Freshman Thomas Paulich reached on an error. Senior Alex Detweiler struck out, but Rood smacked an Alex Ross (0-1) pitch into center for his first hit of the day. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Consol walked to load the bases. Zuckerman worked the count to his advantage and hit Ross' 3-1 pitch into center to score Paulich and Rood, giving Stevens a 4-3 lead. Sophomore Jack Bodner walked to continue the rally, forcing a pitching change. Junior Matthew Pasko lofted a sacrifice fly to right to score Consol with the third run of the day. The infielder has reached base in every game this season.

Eberle added a two-out RBI single in the sixth to round out the scoring.

Up Next: Stevens continues its Spring Break Trip with a game with Piedmont College on Tuesday. The Lions topped the Ducks 5-4 in the first-ever meeting between the programs.

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