HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 29, 2017) – Stevens Institute of Technology baseball senior
Michael Mule' certainly has a flair for the dramatic.
Mule' hit a two-run walk-off home run in the tenth inning to send the Ducks to an 8-6, come-from-behind victory over Rutgers University-Camden Wednesday. Stevens was down 6-3 entering the ninth inning. The outfielder hit a two-out, full-count, walk-off single earlier this season.
"So proud of our team and how we never gave up and fought our way back for the win," he said. "I can't believe I hit a walk-off homerun. I dream about situations like this and blessed I got the opportunity to come through for my team."
Sophomore
Matt Branco worked a two-out walk off Carter Fitcher (2-1) and the Boca Raton, Florida native followed with a towering shot to center that brought the entire Stevens dugout and bullpen onto the field to celebrate with Mule' as he crossed home plate.
Senior
Garrett Wells hit his first career home run and junior
Alex Detweiler delivered a ninth-inning RBI single that tied the game.
"Amazing comeback from our guys today," head coach
Kristaps Aldins said. "We've been close a few other times this year, but today we got it done. Detweiler had a huge at-bat driving in the tying run with two outs in the ninth and Branco had a lengthy at-bat with two outs in the tenth, to set the stage for Michael's walkoff. Tremendous win for our team versus a quality Rutgers-Camden squad."
"Our pitchers kept us in the game so I wanted to string a couple of good at-bats together for them," Wells added. "I'm so proud of how we battled today. Mike Mule' has come up clutch like that his entire collegiate career. That ninth inning was huge - it shows how tough the team is."
The Ducks rallied in the ninth off Steven Bloyed, who was in his third inning of work. Wells led off with a walk and moved to third on pinch-hitter
Nolan Bennett's one-out single. Mule' plated the first run of the inning with a single up the middle. Freshman
Shaye Bartnick extended the rally with a single to center but was thrown out at second attempting to advance.
With the winning run at the plate, Rutgers-Camden head coach Dennis Barth brought in Fitcher. The right-hander had allowed just seven hits with 15 strikeouts over his previous 11 1-3 innings, but Detweiler promptly greeted the reliever with a single to right to score Mule'. The designated hitter has driven in five runs over his last three games.
After allowing the tying run to score, Fitcher continued his struggles, walking
Zeph Walters and
Carlos Leon to load the bases, but struck out
Matthew Pasko to send the game into extra innings.
After allowing a Jon Theckston RBI single in the ninth ,
Drew Hanke (1-0) struck out two in a perfect 10th to earn his first career victory.
"Came in to pitch the ninth and found myself in a jam but was able to bear down, limit the damage and keep our team in the ballgame" the junior pitcher said. "When I got back on the mound in the 10th, I could feel the momentum on our side and I just did my best to keep that on our side. Couldn't be more excited to get my first collegiate win after a game like that, but even more excited about [the] win for [our] team."
Up Next: Stevens welcomes Ithaca College to Hoboken for a three-game Empire 8 Conference three-game series. The series was originally scheduled to be played in upstate New York but has been relocated due to field conditions in Ithaca. First pitch for Saturday is scheduled for 6 pm.
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