HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 29, 2017) – Senior
Garrett Wells delivered a 13th-inning walk-off walk to give the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team a 4-3, come-from-behind victory over No. 15/No. 22 St. John Fisher Saturday to split an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader.
Senior
Zeph Walters collected two hits and a pair of RBI for Stevens, who closed the day with a 17-20-1 record and a 9-8 record in conference play. The game two victory kept
Scott Eisenmenger totaled four hits and Malcolm Kelsey homered for the Cardinals, who fell to 26-7 overall and 13-1 in league play. The Stevens victory in game two handed St. John Fisher its first conference loss and halted the Cardinals 18-game winning streak.
"Highly competitive day today in both games from both teams," head coach
Kristaps Aldins said. "[Brophy] was outstanding in game one and then we got locked into a close battle in game two that went our way in extra innings. Our guys battled throughout and we found a way to get a huge win."
The 13-inning affair was the longest game under Coach Aldins.
St. John Fisher 6 Stevens 0
In game one, St. John Fisher struck for four runs over the final three innings to break open a two-run game en route to a 6-0 victory.
The Cardinals struck for a pair of runs in the second off starter
Danny Poidomani (5-4). Ryan Prevost led off with a double and advanced to third when Poidomani's pickoff attempt flew past first baseman
Alex Detweiler. Malcolm Kelsey singled to right to score the afternoon's first run. After a fielding error by third baseman
Carlos Leon, Victor Konstantinov drew a walk to load the bases. Evan Ryan lofted a sacrifice fly to center to score Kelsey, giving the guests a 2-0 advantage.
Anthony Brophy (8-0) didn't need any further support on the day. The hurler spun a five-hit shutout, striking out 14 with only walk. He struck out the side to complete the shutout. Stevens had a chance to put runs on the board in the fourth.
Shaye Bartnick worked a one-out single and then the freshman outfielder stole second. After Leon walked, Brophy beared down to strike out
Matthew Pasko to end the threat.
After allowing the early runs, Poidomani settled down, working back-to-back scoreless innings to keep Stevens in the game. The lefty struck out Konstantinov in the fourth for his 84th strikeout of the year, setting a new record. The previous mark was set by Frank Tkac in 1952.
St. John Fisher added a run in the fifth on a Jack Trotman RBI double. Kelsey's solo blast tacked on an additional run in the sixth and then the outfielder jumped on a Poidomani offering down the line to score two runs, giving the guests a 6-0 lead.
Stevens 4 St. John Fisher 3 (13 innings)
Garrett Wells drew a bases-loaded, two-out walk in the 13th inning as the Ducks rallied to defeat the Cardinals to force a split.
Shaye Bartnick led off the final inning with a walk.
Zeph Walters singled. Sophomore
Donny Gherardi pinch-ran for Bartnick at second and was promptly erased when catcher
Matt Branco reached on a fielder's choice.
Carlos Leon grounded to first to advance the runners to second and third. Caleb Lee (0-1) walked
Harrison Kaye to load the bases and then struggled to find the plate against Wells, leading to the game-winning free pass.
"We fought and battled hard all game and never gave up," Wells said. "Hats off to our pitchers who stepped up and pitched extended innings to keep us in the game. We had a few missed opportunities, but we didn't dwell on them and we kept pushing forward and I think that's why we won today."
Extra innings were needed after
Nolan Bennett's eighth-inning single scored pinch-runner
Corey Natofsky from second base to tie the game.
Stevens jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
Michael Mule' singled and moved to second on a wild pitch. Dominick Pisciotto walked
Alex Detweiler. After Bartnick's sacrifice bunt, senior
Zeph Walters delivered a timely single to right to score both runners.
Andrew Hamel nearly made the early lead hold up but allowed an unearned run in the third and a Thoams Pasquale sacrifice fly in the fourth. The lanky lefty struck out two over six innings of work in his best start of the season.
Needing a victory to remain in the hunt for a conference postseason berth, Aldins turned to his closer,
Charlie Ruegger (2-1) after a leadoff single in the seventh, to keep the Empire 8's leading offense at-bay. Ruegger promptly got out of the inning when Evan Ryan lined into a double play, but the Cardinals struck for a run in the eighth. Ruegger was unable to field Ryan Fahy's one-out tapper back to the mound. Scott Eisenmenger doubled. Nate Roethel flew out to center, scoring Fahy, giving the Cardinals a momentary advantage.
After the eighth-inning double, Ruegger allowed just four hits over his final six innings of work in the longest outing of his career. The right-hander allowed five hits over seven sterling innings, striking out three.
"Hamel and Ruegger both had excellent outings," Aldins said. "It was the way they competed that really stood out. Exciting to see them help get the result in the win/loss column that we needed today."
"When I came in in the seventh, my goal was to put up zeroes and keep us in the game," Ruegger said. "I wanted to build off what
Andrew Hamel did and attack the lower half of the zone. I was able to keep them off the board into extra innings and it allowed our offense to get the deciding run. This was a huge win for us."
The eighth-inning run allowed by Kyle Chambers was his first blown save of the season.
Up Next: The Ducks and the Cardinals close out their three-game series with a Sunday afternoon matchup, with a first-pitch time of noon. The Ducks will honor the seven student-athlete Class of 2017 in a pregame ceremony.
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