LaGRANGE, Ga. (March 14, 2018)  – Junior Danny Poidomani struck out nine over eight innings for the second complete game of his career, but the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team fell to LaGrange College, 2-1 Wednesday in a non-conference game at Cleaveland Field. The pitchers' dual took just over two hours to complete. The other complete game of the Stevens' lefty's career came against Canton on April 8, 2017.

Senior Tommy Baronner was the only player on either team to reach base three times. The Solana Beach, California native walked twice, singled and scored for the Ducks, who fell to 4-6. Baronner has reached base safely in every game this season.

Austin Jones and Rhett Holton each singled twice for LaGrange, who won its fifth straight game to improve to 12-10. 

"Another close one for us where it didn't go our way," said head coach Kristaps Aldins. "But there were a lot of positives to take out of this game. Danny pitched a great game and our bench was tuned in and loud the entire game. We are looking forward to getting back out on the field and putting up some runs on the scoreboard tomorrow."

Stevens struck first against LaGrange starter Dustin Tardy. Baronner walked to lead off the game and advanced to second when junior Donny Gherardi was hit by a pitch. Freshman Thomas Paulich reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases. After a popout, Baronner scampered home on a wild pitch with the game's first run. Tardy then struck out consecutive batters to end the threat.

The Panthers struck for their runs in the second. Jack Layrisson and Jones led the off with consecutive singles. A fielding error on a sacrifice bunt attempt led to LaGrange's first run. With runners on second and third after the error, the Panthers continued to play small ball, executing a squeeze play for the second run of the inning. Rhett Hollon tried to lay down the third bunt of the inning, but Nick Fink was thrown out at home by Paulich to limit the damage. Poidomani induced a flyout from Rhett Mixon to end the inning.

Poidomani (1-1) found his groove after McKinley Erves' third-inning leadoff single. Coming off The left-hander retired 12 straight batters, including striking out the side in the fifth to keep the Ducks within striking distance. Poidomani's nine punchouts marked a season-high for the junior, who set the single-season mark for the program for strikeouts in a season as a sophomore. The Rochelle Park, New Jersey resident walked just one batter and has allowed only five free passes over 26 1-3 innings this season.

The Ducks threatened in the fourth against the second LaGrange pitcher of the evening. Freshman Nathan Zuckerman worked a leadoff walk against Tanner Chafin. After a popup, the rookie backstop advanced to third when Chafin's pickoff attempt sailed past first base. Back-to-back flyouts to right ended the threat.

Austin Perez (1-0) was awarded the win after spinning a scoreless 1 1-3 innings. Zach English pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.

Up Next: Stevens continues its road adventure with a stop in Birmingham, Alabama for a matchup with No. 14 Birmingham-Southern College. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. Central Standard Time.

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