ATLANTA, Ga. (March 16, 2018)  – Sophomore Patrick Rood homered and junior Charlie Ruegger pitched seven effective innings, but the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team fell to Emory University, 8-5 Friday afternoon in a non-conference game at Chappell Park.

Junior Matthew Pasko collected a pair of hits and freshman Nathan Zuckerman drove in a pair for the Ducks, who dropped their fourth straight game to fall to 4-8.

Christopher Stern homered and Nick Chambers drove in four for the Eagles, who scored five times in the eighth inning to secure their second straight come-from-behind victory. Emory improved to 6-9 on the year. 

"Our team brought the energy and hustle today," said head coach Kristaps Aldins. "Unfortunately, we could not get the big third out in the eighth inning and we lost a tough one today. However, we have two more games this weekend and we are looking forward to rebounding tomorrow and finishing up our trip strong."

The Ducks struck first against Emory starter Richard Brereton. Rood led off the second with a solo home run to left on the right-hander's first pitch of the inning. It was the second home run of the season for the second baseman, matching his 2017 output. Stevens added a run in the fourth on a Zuckerman sacrifice fly, scoring junior Donny Gherardi, who began a rally with a one-out double. The Ducks added a run in the fifth on an RBI double by senior Alex Detweiler to provide Ruegger with a 3-0 cushion.

The junior right-hander breezed through the first four innings, allowing just three baserunners with four strikeouts. Emory touched the Morris Plains, New Jersey native for a pair of runs in the fifth. Jack Rubenstein led off with a double. A Thomas Baumgartner single and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases. Chambers singled to right to score a pair, but Ruegger beared down and induced a pair of groundouts to finish the inning with Stevens still holding a lead.

The Ducks added to their advantage in the sixth. Pasko doubled down the line to open the rally. Freshman Gannon Kenney-McGowan singled, advancing the shortstop to third. Pasko deftly scored on a wild pitch and Zuckerman collected his second RBI of the day on an infield single. The catcher stole second but was stranded in scoring position after senior Tommy Baronner lined out and freshman Thomas Paulich grounded to second. Brereton allowed all five Stevens runs over six innings and struck out two.

Ruegger returned to the mound and fired a pair of shutout innings before turning it over to the bullpen. The right-hander finished the day with a quality start, allowing three runs on seven hits over seven innings. Ruegger struck out seven for the third time in four starts this season.

Emory broke through in the eighth against freshman Joseph Deitz (0-1). Brereton, who also served as Emory's designated hitter, walked on four pitches to leadoff the inning. Rubenstein singled to third. Danny Kerning pinch-ran for the Emory leftfielder at first. Baumgartner advanced the runners with a sacrifice. Eric Terry pinch-hit for Michael Edelman and the Deitz retired the pinch-hitter on the first pitch for the second out of the inning. Chambers tied the game with a single a right and promptly stole second. Jackson Greyson was hit by a pitch. Stern followed, and drove Deitz's 0-1 offering over the left field wall for a tie-breaking three-run home run. Deitz came into the game unscored on in four of his last five appearances. 

Trailing 8-5, Stevens did not go down without a fight in the ninth. With two outs, Detweiler was hit by a pitch and stole second. But Christian Bradley came on to strike out Rood in a six-pitch at-bat for the final out of the game to record his first career save.

Sam Brzowski (1-0) earned the victory for Emory with 2 1-3 hitless innings.

Up Next: The Ducks return to Chappell Park for a neutral-site contest with Middlebury Saturday morning. Stevens won the first-ever meeting between the teams on March 10. First pitch is scheduled for 10 a.m. with live stats and video links posted on StevensDucks.com.

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