HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 30, 2016) – The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team swept an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader 3-0 and 12-4 against Utica College Wednesday.
The Ducks moved to 13-8 and 5-0 in the E8, while Utica fell to 1-12 and 0-5 in the conference.
GAME 1 (Stevens 3, Utica 0)Utica threatened with bases loaded in the top of the first and one out, but junior
Zeph Walters recorded a strike out and fly out to escape without allowing a run. Walters helped his own cause, leading off the second with a single. After the next two hitters got on, freshman
Matthew Pasko delivered an RBI single past a diving shortstop to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead.
Walters cruised through the third, and senior
Nick Sieber doubled the Ducks lead in the bottom of the third with a ribbie double scoring junior
Nolan Bennett. Sieber again drove in the final run for the Ducks in the fifth, knocking Bennett in with a single to left. After a perfect sixth inning by senior
Ryan Patterson, sophomore
Andrew Hamel escaped a two-on, no out jam in the seventh to record his first save.
Sieber and Walters each went 2-for-3, while Bennett reached base twice and scored a pair of runs. Walters tossed five shutout innings, fanning five with only one walk.
GAME 2 (Stevens 12, Utica 4)The Ducks jumped all over Utica starter Josh Luczak in the first, scoring two runs. Bennett drilled a ground-rule double to left center, scoring senior
Jayson Yano. Three batters later, junior
Michael Mule' hit a sacrifice fly to left to give the Ducks a 2-0 edge. The Pioneers got within one on an infield hit by Tim Quinlan in the top of the second.
Stevens broke the game opened in the second, putting up a five spot. Sophomore
Drew Hanke led off with an infield single, and moved to third a sac bunt by Pasko that was thrown away. Yano hit a sacrifice fly and classmate
Jonathan Toro dropped down a squeeze bunt that scored Pasko. Bennett once again singled, and Walters lambasted a three-run home run to right center for his third long ball of the year.
Freshman
Charlie Ruegger gave up an unearned run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly, and exited the game after five innings, striking out eight in his first collegiate start. Sieber collected another RBI in the sixth, knocking home Yano. After Utica tacked on runs in the seventh and eighth, Mule' ended the Ducks scoring by blasting a three-run home run to right field, his second of the season.
Every Ducks starter collected at least one hit, and Bennett had a career day, going 4-for-5. Walters was 2-for-4 with three RBI's and Mule' had four RBI's in the win. Yano, who had his 11 game hitting streak snapped in the first game, responded with a 3-for-4 outing.
Matthew DeMartino had two hits for Utica, while Josh Luczak gave up 11 hits and eight runs in five innings.
The Ducks will take on Ithaca College for a three-game series beginning with a doubleheader Saturday starting at 3 p.m.
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