HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 31, 2018) – The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team drew a season-high 12 walks, including three with the bases loaded, to defeat the State University of New York at Canton 10-8 Saturday evening to earn a split of an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader at Dobbelaar Field.

Patrick Rood went 3-for-5 and drove in four runs for the Ducks, who fell to the Kangaroos 5-3 in eight innings in the opener, before rallying to take the nightcap. Stevens closed the day with a 12-10 record on the year and a 5-2 mark in conference play. The Ducks are a half-game behind St. John Fisher College in the league standings.

Wilson Matos collected four hits and drove in three runs for Canton, who fell to 4-12 on the year and 1-2 in conference play.

"All in all, a very good week for us, going 4-1 in conference play," said head coach Kristaps Aldins. "Now our team gets a chance to enjoy some much needed time off for the holiday weekend and then we will get back to work preparing for Elmira on Wednesday."

After dropping the opener in extra innings, Stevens wasted little time jumping on starter Collin Trathen (0-1). Sophomore Shaye Bartnick began a first-inning rally with a one-out walk on four pitches. Junior Donny Gherardi singled to left and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Senior Alex Detweiler walked to load the bases. Rood forced in the first run of the game with a four-pitch walk of his own, the third of the inning, to give the Ducks an early lead. Stevens sent 11 batters to the plate in the opening inning. The Ducks also sent nine to the plate in the fourth.

The consecutive four-pitch walks led to an abbreviated outing for the Canton right-hander, who was removed from the game after walking in the game's first run. Zach Cortese relieved Trathen and junior Matthew Pasko greeted the reliever with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Gherardi. Rood moved to second when Cortese's pickoff attempt sailed away from first baseman Brandon Bautista. Freshman Thomas Paulich cleared the bases with a two-run single giving the Ducks an early 4-0 lead.

Canton responded for three in the third off senior Quinn DiPasquale (3-2). Matos drove a 1-2 pitch down the right field line for a two-run triple. The Canton shortstop scored on Travis Schindler's groundout to trim the Stevens lead to one.

The Ducks were again able to take advantage of Canton's wildness, scoring three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings.

After getting the first two outs of the fourth, relief pitcher Anthony Tur suddenly lost command of the strike zone, throwing eight straight balls to walk freshman Charles Kwong and Detweiler. The runners moved up on a passed ball and came around to score on Rood's single to left. The three-RBI performance brought Rood's season total to 16, surpassing the infielder's total as a freshman. Pasko worked a full-count walk and Paulich reached on an infield single to again load the bases. Junior Carlos Leon forced in the third run of the frame with another four-pitch walk to give the hosts a 7-3 lead.

Pitching in his third straight game, Zack Newman also struggled with his command, walking the bases loaded in the fifth and then forcing in a run by walking Rood. The Ducks added to their lead when second baseman Brett Hoberman's throw to first sailed beyond the reach of Bautista on Pasko's fielder's choice grounder to score Detweiler and sophomore pinch-runner John Hamill. Canton made four errors on the evening.

With the offense putting plenty of runs on the board, DiPasquale didn't need his best stuff to earn the victory. The right-hander, who surrendered one earned run or less in four of his five previous stars, allowed four runs, three earned, on four hits over five innings. The Chelmsford, Massachusetts native walked four and struck out nine. DiPasquale has struck out 42 over 36 innings this season to rank among the conference leaders.

Canton scored four runs off two Stevens relievers in the sixth, but senior Drew Hanke struck out Hoberman to record his second save of the season.

In the day's opener, Hoberman spoiled another effective start by junior Danny Poidomani with an RBI double to force extra innings and an RBI single in the eighth to earn a 5-3 win for Canton.

Poidomani allowed five runs, four earned, over 7 2-3 innings and struck out nine. The left-hander has struck out at least six in seven of his eight appearances this season. The Rochelle Park, New Jersey native leads the conference in strikeouts (53) and is also among the national leaders.

Settling down after Francesco Palumbo's two-run single, Poidomani (2-2) retired 11 straight before running into trouble in the seventh. Joe Dwy tripled to left to open the frame and the Canton catcher came around to score on Hoberman's double two pitches later. The lefty stranded Hoberman at third to give the Ducks a chance to win the game in their half of the inning.

Gherardi led off the seventh with a single against Canton starter Derrek DuPont, ending the right-hander's afternoon. Newman relieved the starter and promptly gave up a single to Detweiler. Kwong pinch-ran for Detweiler at first and both runners moved up on Bartnick's sacrifice bunt. Newman struck out freshman Ambrose Consol and Paulich on six pitches to force extra innings.

In the eighth, Poidomani worked around a one-out single to strike out Dwy on three pitches. Hoberman followed and smacked the lefty's 0-1 offering to left to give Canton a 4-3 lead. Palumbo singled to third against freshman Joseph Deitz to round out the scoring.

Up Next: Baseball travels to Elmira, N.Y. on Tuesday, April 4 for an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader with Elmira College at Dunn Field. The Ducks topped the Soaring Eagles 9-4 on March 28.

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