HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 10, 2012) – The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team improved to 6-2 on the young 2012 season with a doubleheader sweep of John Jay College of Criminal Justice on Saturday at Dobbelaar Field. The Ducks downed the Bloodhounds 7-3 in the opener and 9-3 in the nightcap.

Game One
Junior righty Kevin Mathews (Jackson, N.J.) tossed 5.2 strong innings for Stevens in the opener to earn his second win of the season, giving up three runs on seven hits and striking out three.

Stevens pushed across one run in the first to take an early lead. Senior second baseman Tom Phillips (Spring Lake, N.J.) was it by a pitch to start and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of sophomore Dan Allen (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.).

After the Bloodhounds tied things at one in their half of the second, Stevens answered with three runs of its own to go up 4-1. Freshman right fielder Brian Hennelly (Holbrook, N.J.) singled to start the inning, advancing to second on a wild pitch. A single by junior third baseman Tyler Courter (Glenwood, N.J.) put runners on first and third with one out, before a single from freshman shortstop Marc Calleo (Bayville, N.Y.) plated Hennelly. Courter scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-1 Ducks, and Calleo came around on an error.

John Jay (2-10) scored two to trim the lead to one (4-3) in the third with senior first baseman Steven Caracena (West New York, N.J.) doubling in one run and freshman catcher Brian McKenna (New York, N.Y.) singling home another.

The Ducks got the lead back to two in the fourth thanks to a leadoff single from Courter who eventually crossed the plate on a double play groundout, and they pushed across two more in the fifth for the 7-3 margin. Senior first baseman Matt Glassman (Basking Ridge, N.J.) and Allen both doubled to start the inning, and senior designated hitter TJ Alcorn (Turnersville, N.J.) backed them up with a run-scoring single.

Senior righty Vincent Vinci (Howell, N.J.) relieved Mathews in the sixth and did a nice job, tossing 1.1 innings of scoreless ball, carding two strikeouts..

Allen led the Ducks with two runs batted in, while Alcorn, Hennelly and Courter all had two hits.

McKenna and Caracena each had a pair of knocks for the Bloodhounds.

Game Two
Stevens pitched this one by committee with six pitchers combining on a five-hitter and teaming to overcome five errors. Allen started and went two innings, giving up one unearned tally, and freshman Peirce Marston (East Windsor, N.J.) went the next two. Marston gave up a run on a hit and two walks. Senior John Martelle (Colonia, N.J.), who earned the win, went one full inning and gave up two hits and one run. Senior Chris Tucci (Calverton, N.J.), freshman Ryan Mannello (Staten Island, N.Y.) and grad student Jeffrey Hart (Greenwood Lake, N.Y.) went the final two for the Ducks. In total, Stevens hurlers tallied 10 strikeouts and allowed just one earned run.

After John Jay opened a 2-0 lead through two and a half innings, the Ducks plated four runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead for good. Freshman second baseman Greg Nickels (Simpsonville, S.C.) set the table with a base hit, and after a fly out, Hennelly delivered the same to put runners on first and second with one out. Glassman delivered an RBI double to center, and Allen followed him by hammering a two-run double in the left-center field gap to give Stevens the lead for good. Junior third baseman Michael Donovan (Mendham, N.J.) singled in Allen to cap the fourth-inning scoring.

Each team scored a run over the next two innings, and the Ducks were able to break it open with a four-run sixth. When John Jay starter Owen Kimmel (New York, N.Y.), who was solid all evening, was replaced, Stevens quickly pushed the game out of reach. Calleo and sophomore catcher Curt Lowenstein (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) walked to start things off, with Lowenstein eventually scoring on a one-out single from Nickels. Hennelly and Glassman then walked with two outs to load the bases, and Allen followed suit to force in a run and make it 7-3. Alcorn, who was a pinch hitter in game two, stepped to the dish and delivered a two-out two-run double scoring Glassman and Hennelly for the final margin.

Hennelly went 2-for-4 in game two with a pair of runs scored, and Glassman was 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs. Allen had a knock and three runs batted in, while Nickels finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Donovan finished 2-for-4 with an RBI as well.

Stevens will head to Florida for its Spring Break Trip over the next five days. While in the Sunshine State the Ducks will take on Fairleigh Dickinson University – Florham, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Dickinson College and SUNY Brockport. Monday's game against FDU is slated for a 9 a.m. start.