Senior Adam Sandt picked up his second save of the season against Centenary in game two.

HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 21, 2007) – The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team split a doubleheader with Centenary College on Saturday afternoon.  Despite dropping the first game 17-13, the Ducks bounced back to claim a 5-3 victory in the second game.  The Ducks now stand at 13-15 overall and 9-3 in the conference, while Centenary moved to 17-9 overall and 10-4 in the league.

In the nine-inning opener, the Cyclones used a 13-run sixth inning to take a commanding 14-10 lead that they would not relinquish.  Centenary totaled 10 hits in the inning and scored nine with two outs.  Junior Jared Grant (Mount Olive, N.J.) got the scoring started with a leadoff homerun.  Junior Andrew Materia (Jackson, N.J.), freshman Michael Fasano (Hawthorne, N.J.) and senior William Geltzeiler (Rumson, N.J.) all totaled two hits apiece for the Cyclones.

The Ducks held a 10-1 advantage headed into the sixth inning.  Stevens jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first frame before adding five more runs in the second.  Senior Eric McCormick (Edison, N.J.) led off the second inning with a double to left center.  Freshman Eddie Daniele (Colts Neck, N.J.) followed with a bunt single, which advanced McCormick to third on the play.  McCormick scored the Ducks first run on a wild pitch.  Sophomore Joe Gunshor (Ridgefield, Conn.) and senior Adam Sandt (Allentown, Pa.) added back-to-back homeruns to put the Ducks ahead 7-1.

Stevens tacked on two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth before Centenary’s sixth inning rally.

Gunshor finished the game 5-for-6 with seven RBIs to go along with a double and two homeruns.  Sandt went 3-for-6 with two RBIs, a double and a homerun.  Junior John Frustaci (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) went 3-for-5 with two doubles.

For Centenary, Fasano went 5-for-6 with four runs and three RBIs.  Materia finished the game 3-for-5 with four RBIs.

In game two, sophomore Bill Jennings (Southampton, N.J.) picked up the win for Stevens, giving up three runs on six hits in 5.1 innings of work.  Sandt earned his second save of the season as he pitched 1.2 innings in relief.  Offensively, Sandt went 2-for-2 with an RBI and Birkenstock finished 2-for-3 with an RBI to lead the Ducks.

With the score tied 2-2, Frustaci sent a long ball over the left field fence to give Stevens a 3-2 lead in the fourth.  The Ducks tacked on one run in the fifth and one run in the sixth to hold onto the victory.  In the fifth, Sandt scored on a ground out by senior Andrew Tesoriero (Dunedin, Fla.).  After McCormick doubled to lead off the sixth inning, he advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Dan Silva (Boonton Township, N.J.).  McCormick eventually scored on a single to right field by Daniele.

Sophomore Andrew Koncen (Elizabeth, N.J.) suffered the loss for the Cyclones as he gave up five runs on 10 hits in six innings.  Freshman Mark DeMaio (Morris Plains, N.J.) finished the game 1-for-3 with two RBIs.

Stevens will be back in action on Sunday when it travels to Old Westbury, N.Y. to face SUNY Old Westbury in a doubleheader at noon.