HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 25, 2017)  – Senior Zeph Walters hit three home runs, junior Alex Detweiler hit a key pinch-hit three run homer, and sophomore Danny Poidomani struck out eight over seven innings, and the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team swept Houghton College (13-5, 8-2) in an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader Saturday.

Sophomore Carlos Leon totaled four hits and stole four bases and senior Michael Mule added three hits and drove in a run as the Ducks improved to 8-9-1 on the season and 3-0 in conference play.

David Wessells had three hits and stole a pair of bases for Houghton, who fell to 7-9 overall and 0-3 in the conference. Stevens has won the last nine meetings between the programs.

"Our bats came alive this weekend and our pitchers battled through some tough jams to get some key outs at critical moments," head coach Kristaps Aldins said. "It always feels great to sweep a conference series."

Stevens 13 Houghton 5 (7 inn.)
Zeph Walters hit a pair of long home runs as Stevens erupted for eight runs in the sixth inning to rally and defeat Houghton, 13-5 in game one.

The Ducks sent 13 batters to the plate in the decisive frame against two Houghton pitchers to break open a 5-5 game. Houghton tied the game in its sixth off Charlie Ruegger (1-0), when Matthew Pasko's relay was off the mark as the shortstop was attempting to throw out Taylor Huntsman as the Highlanders third baseman was moving from first to third on Tage Johnson's single.

Walters led off the decisive frame with a solo home run off Victor Cavalieri (1-3). Carlos Leon reached on a one-out infield single and the speedy infielder promptly stole second. Pasko and A.J. Falconite connected for back-to-back, run-scoring doubles. Garrett Wells walked. After a Houghton pitching change, Michael Mule' greeted Carl Holmes with the third double of the inning, scoring Falconite for Stevens' fourth run. Donny Gherardi added an RBI groundout. P.J. Wiegartner was hit by a pitch to continue the inning. Walters capped the inning by turning on a Holmes offering for a mammoth three-run blast over the center field wall to give the Ducks a 13-5 advantage. It was the third career multi-homer game for the Diamond Bar, California native.

"My approach at the plate is to barrel the ball up and hit it hard somewhere," Walters said. "Today I was seeing the ball really well and was able to make some good swings that turned into well-hit balls."

The Ducks surged ahead in the fourth thanks to Detweiler's mighty swing. With the Ducks trailing 3-2, the Sarasota, Florida native was called on to pinch-hit for Eric Zickert with runners at first and second. The junior promptly crushed a Cavalieri pitch for his first career home run in just his fourth at-bat of the season. Detweiler missed the 2016 due to injury.

"I was looking to drive the ball the other way," Detweiler said. "I saw my pitch and put a good swing on it and was able to barrel it up and drive it. It's great to pick up some momentum this weekend starting off conference play on the right foot."

Houghton jumped in front against Walters, scoring two in second and one fourth. Four of the five Highlander runs were unearned. 

After the eight-run frame, Chandler Brierley worked around a two-out walk to finish the game.

Stevens 8 Houghton 2
In game two, sophomore Danny Poidomani scattered six hits over seven effective innings as the Ducks scored eight unanswered runs to earn an 8-2 victory over Houghton to complete the doubleheader sweep.

The reigning Empire 8 Conference and ECAC Division III Metro Pitcher of the Week, the Rochelle Park, New Jersey resident allowed an unearned run in the first, but settled down to shut down the E8's highest scoring team. The left-hander struck out eight and walked only one. Poidomani (3-2) has struck out eight batters or more in four straight starts and leads the conference in punchouts (51). Over his last 26 2-3 innings, Poidomani has only issued four free passes.
 
The Ducks broke the game open in the first, scoring six times against Edward Monthie (1-1). Michael Mule' led off with a single and stole second. Shaye Bartnick walked and both runners advanced a base when Monthie wildly threw to first in trying to pick off the Stevens first baseman. After hitting a key home run in game one, Alex Detweiler drew the start at designated hitter and rewarded Coach Aldins by smacking a single up the middle to score a run. David Wessells misplayed Detweiler's hit, allowing Bartnick to score from second.

Zeph Walters continued his big day at the plate with his third home run of the afternoon to center. Carlos Leon added an RBI double and Matthew Pasko had a RBI single as the Ducks sent 10 batters to the plate against the Houghton right-hander. 

Houghton had an opportunity to score in the fourth. Tage Johnson walked to lead off the inning. Garrett Kirkpatrick singled down the left field line. Bryan Hodge sacrificed the runners over to second and third, but Poidomani struck out Nicholas Melchoire and Jeremy Newswanger to strand the runners. 

The Ducks added a run on Walters' fifth-inning sacrifice fly and Matt Branco's safety squeeze. 

Andrew Hamel allowed an unearned run in two innings of relief. 

Up Next: The Ducks welcome Rutgers University-Camden to Dobbelaar Baseball Field for a non-conference matchup Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

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