Meerendonk Notches 100th Career Hit As Baseball Split Its Doubleheader With Ithaca

4/3/2010 7:45:00 PM

HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 3, 2010) – Junior Kenneth Meerendonk went 4-for-6 with a homerun and three RBI as the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team split its doubleheader with Ithaca College at the Diamond Nation Campus in Flemington, N.J. The Ducks took the first game of the twinbill, 8-6, while the Bombers secured a 15-12 victory in the nightcap. Meerendonk notched his 100th career hit in the loss. Stevens is now 9-13 on the season with a 1-3 league ledger, while Ithaca improved to 5-10 with a 3-1 mark against conference opponents.

Junior catcher Denis Ackermann went 4-for-6 with two doubles, a homerun, and four RBI, while sophomore designated hitter T.J. Alcorn went 4-for-7 with a double, two RBI, and three runs scored. Senior Mark Rasulo had a pair of hits and an RBI, while Corey Linden, Russ Grimes, Tom Phillips, and Chris Coutros combined for four hits, five runs, and six RBI.

Stevens returns to action on Monday, April 5 when it plays host to the College of Mount St. Vincent at Dobbelaar Baseball Field in Hoboken, N.J.

Game 1: Stevens 8, Ithaca 6
With a runner on third and one out, Ithaca's Trevor Wolf (Freeville, N.Y.) hit a grounder to short, scoring junior Matt Streich (East Greenwich, R.I.) to put Ithaca up 1-0 in the top of the first. Stevens responded in the bottom half of the inning on Ackermann's two-out, bases-loaded single to left.

After a scoreless second, junior second baseman Jarrod Surine (Trumansburg, N.Y.) blasted a lead-off homerun, taking Stevens starter Joe Finora's first pitch in the top of the third over the left centerfield wall to make it 2-1. Bombers' senior catcher Mike Armstrong (Penfield, N.Y.) followed it up with a ground-rule double to left center, later scoring on a Streich double down the leftfield line.

Stevens put two aboard with no-out in the bottom of the third before Grimes belted a homer to left center, giving Stevens a 4-3 edge. Meerendonk then blasted a roundtripper to the same spot, putting the Ducks up two, while knocking out Ithaca starter Andrew Wall (Newfield, N.Y.).

Junior reliever Aaron Sapp (Niskayuna, N.Y.) quickly got two outs, before Phillips extended the inning with a single to left. Coutros would knock in Phillips moments later, driving a double to right center before advancing to third on an Ithaca error. The Howell, N.J. native later scored the Ducks' sixth run on a wild pitch.

Stevens added a run in the fourth on an Ackermann double down the leftfield line, but Ithaca came right back in the sixth, getting a run back on a Ducks' error.

After scoring a pair of runs on another Stevens miscue in the top of the seventh, bringing the tying run to the plate with two-out, but Ducks reliever Mark Poinsett shut the door on the Bombers, inducing a routine fly to center.

Finora went six and a third en route to his fourth win of the season, allowing three earned runs, while scattering eight hits. Wall lasted just two innings allowing five runs on four hits.

Alcorn went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while Phillips and Coutros each finished 1-for-3 with a run scored. Grimes and Meerendonk each went deep for Stevens, combining for four RBI.

Streich went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored, while senior T.J. Abone (Rome, N.Y.) finished 2-for-2. Armstrong had a 2-for-3 day with a run scored.

Game 2: Ithaca 15, Stevens 12
Ithaca again jumped out to an early lead in game two, plating a run on Wolf's two-out, RBI single to right center. Stevens quickly rallied, knotting the game in the bottom half of the inning on Alcorn's single through the left side that scored senior leftfielder Anthony Andrews.

Ithaca freshman Ian Gaule (East Greenbush, N.Y.) led off the second inning with a homer to deep center before junior catcher Sean Weber (East Schodack, N.Y.) blasted a one-out, two-run shot to left center, making it 4-1. The Bombers extended the margin to four on a Surine RBI single to left in the top of the third, but the Stevens bats came alive in the bottom half of the stanza, tallying seven runs on four hits and three Ithaca errors.

Andrews led things off, reaching on an Ithaca error, before back-to-back Rasulo and Alcorn singles plated the inning's first run. With one out and runners on second and third, Meerendonk found a hole on the right side, driving in a pair of runs on his 100th career hit.

Ithaca starter Dan Lynch (East Amherst, N.Y.) then walked Ackermann before hitting Linden to load the bases. A Bomber error on a Phillips grounder then plated two runs, before another costly Ithaca error with runners on second and third, allowed a pair of Ducks to cross the plate, making it 8-5.

Undaunted Ithaca tallied three runs in the top of the fourth on a David Ahonen (Farmington, N.Y.) infield single with the bases loaded and an Abone two RBI single back up the middle.

Stevens came right back, taking a 10-8 advantage, scoring on a fielder's choice and a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the fourth, but four Ithaca runs on a pair of Weber and Ahonen home runs and a Stevens error put the Bombers back on top, 12-10.

The resilient Ducks again rallied in the bottom of the fifth, tying the game on Ackermann's two-run shot to right, but Streich ripped a two-run double to left center in the top of the sixth before scoring on a passed ball to put Ithaca ahead for good, 15-12.

Meerendonk finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored, while Ackermann went 2-for-3 with two RBI and three runs scored. Rasulo and Alcorn each had a pair of hits, combining for three RBI.

Gaule, Abone, and Streich each finished 3-for-5 in the win, combining for three RBI. Ahonen went 2-for-4 with three RBI, while senior Jon Krakower (Albany, N.Y.) had two hits, scoring four runs. Weber added two hits, three runs scored, and three RBI in the win.

The Bombers tallied 15 runs on 18 hits, while the Ducks finished with 10 hits, scoring 12 runs.
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