Dan Silva had two hits and drove in three runs against Central. |
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (March 13, 2007) – Freshman Ben Tressel (Dubuque, Iowa) singled home junior Justin Owens (Milo, Iowa) with the winning run with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning as Central College claimed an 11-10 win over the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team on Tuesday in Port Charlotte, Fla. Having lost four games in a row, the Ducks now stand at 2-6 on the year.
Trailing 10-6 in the top of the eighth inning, Stevens scored four times to tie the score. Junior John Frustaci (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) got things started as he was hit by a pitch. Freshman Anthony Andrews (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) pinch ran for Frustaci. After a walk to freshman Russ Grimes (South Brunswick, N.J.), senior Andrew Tesoriero (Dunedin, Fla.) singled to load the bases. With no outs, sophomore Dan Silva (Boonton Township, N.J.) singled through the right side to drive in two runs as the Ducks closed to within 10-8. Silva advanced to second on the throw to the plate.
Sophomore Eric Speer (Milton, Iowa) came out of the bullpen and was greeted by an RBI single off the bat of junior David Katusa (Franklin Township, N.J.), who was pinch hitting for senior Eric McCormick (Edison, N.J.). Tesoriero scored on Katusa’s hit, and Silva advanced to third on the play. After Katusa stole second, senior Jim Waterman (Mullica Hill, N.J.) was retired for the first out of the inning. Silva came around to tie the game on a balk by Speer. With Katusa representing the lead run at third and still one out, sophomore Joe Gunshor (Ridgefield, Conn.) grounded out to third. After a walk to freshman Eddie Daniele (Colts Neck, N.J.), senior Adam Sandt (Allentown, Pa.) flew out to right field to end the threat.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, sophomore B.J. Pilling (Denison, Iowa) struck out against junior Chris Burgess (Palisades Park, N.J.) to lead things off. Owens reached on a throwing error by Sandt. After a walk to freshman Anthony Bazant (La Vista, Neb.), Tressel singled through the right side. On the play, Grimes was unable to come up with the ball cleanly in right field as Owens came around to score the winning run.
Burgess (0-1) was saddled with the loss as he allowed one unearned run, two hits and two walks in 1.1 innings of work. Sophomore Alex Sota (Lancaster, Pa.) started for the Ducks. He gave up 10 runs in four innings. Junior Mike Ivey (Budd Lake, N.J.) pitched well out of the bullpen as he limited the Dutch to one hit in three innings.
Freshman Doug Eisenman (Grundy Center, Iowa) earned the win by giving up just one hit in the ninth inning. Junior Ben Gander (Maxwell, Iowa) was tagged for six hits and six runs over six innings as the starter for Central, which improved to 4-2 with the win.
Gunshor went 2-for-5 with a triple, two runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base for Stevens. Daniele, Sandt and Silva had two hits apiece. Silva drove in three runs and scored twice.
Junior Jeremy Kippley (Denison, Iowa) was 3-for-5 for the Dutch. Junior Michael Edwards (Pella, Iowa) had three hits, three RBI and three runs scored. Five players had two hits apiece for Central.
After an off-day on Wednesday, Stevens will face 27th-ranked Rowan University on Thursday at 9 a.m. The Ducks will close out the Florida trip on Friday against Defiance College at 9 a.m.
