ELMIRA, N.Y. (April 5, 2018)  – Senior Alex Detweiler totaled four hits and drove in two as the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team split a Thursday afternoon Empire 8 Conference doubleheader with Elmira College. The Ducks claimed a 9-1 victory in the opener before Elmira rallied with a four-run seventh inning to take a 7-5 victory in game two.

Junior Matt Branco also drove in two runs and freshman Charles Kwong delivered his first career multi-RBI game for the Ducks, who moved to 13-11 on the year and 6-3 in the E8. 

Joey Florio had a two-run double for Elmira, who improved to 2-16 on the year and 2-7 in the conference.

"Up and down day on the diamond today," said head coach Kristaps Aldins. "Chuck was very good in game one, but unfortunately, we let one slip away in game two. In the second game, we fell behind early, were able to regain and cushion our lead, but then saw it evaporate in the late innings to an Elmira team that knew that their chances for a playoff spot was on the line."

"We have a quick turnaround for a pair of home games tomorrow," Aldins continued. "We'll briefly reflect on this series win against Elmira and get ready for our doubleheader with Houghton."

In the opener, junior Charlie Ruegger allowed a run on six hits as Stevens broke open a close game with a six-run fifth inning en route to a 9-1 victory. 

Pitching for the first time since his masterful performance against Canton, Ruegger (3-2) struck out six and the only blemish came on Dennis Rudolph's third-inning RBI double. The run-scoring hit snapped an 11 2-3 scoreless inning streak.

The top of the lineup provided plenty of spark to provide Ruegger with the cushion he needed, as senior Tommy Baronner, junior Matthew Pasko and sophomore Patrick Rood combined to go 5-for-10 with six runs scored out of the top three spots in the order. Detweiler opened the game's scoring with a first-inning single to right off Conor Bawiec (1-3). 

The Ducks added a pair of runs off Bawiec in the third. Baronner singled to center. After a groundout, Rood reached on an infield single to move the Stevens leadoff hitter to third. With Stevens threatening, Bawiec uncorked a wild pitch to score Baronner. Freshman Thomas Paulich pushed a seeing-eye single through the left side to score Rood with the third run of the frame.

After Rudolph's double, Ruegger beared down, retiring four straight, including back-to-back strikeouts. Stevens broke the game open against Bawiec, taking advantage of three Elmira errors and a wild pitch to score six times. Baronner singled to lead off the inning and came around to score when Nate Hanner threw Pasko's sacrifice bunt attempt away. Rood singled to right and Detweiler drove in his second run of the day with a single down the right field line. The senior first baseman leads the team with 23 RBI. Paulich kept the inning alive, reaching when Bawiec misplayed the infielder's sacrifice bunt for the second error of the inning. After Carlos Leon popped up for the first out of the inning, Bawiec made his second error of the game, misplaying Kwong's grounder. Detweiler scored on a wild pitch and Branco cleared the bases with a double down the line. The RBIs were the first of the year for the junior backstop.

Graduate student William Korosec struck out two in a hitless seventh to finish the game.

In game two, senior Andrew Hamel struck out eight over six effective innings, but Elmira rallied for four runs in the seventh to come away with a 7-5 victory.

After a pair of unearned runs in the first, Stevens struck for three runs in the second against starter Blake Phelps. Paulich was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Junior Carlos Leon walked and bot runners advanced on a wild pitch. Kwong walked to load the bases. Freshman Nathan Zuckerman lofted a sacrifice fly to left to score a run. Branco walked to again load the bases. Baronner lofted the second sacrifice fly of the inning. A double steal moved Branco and Kwong to second and third and Pasko scored the third run of the inning with an infield single. 

Kwong's fielder's choice grounder in the third gave Stevens a two-run lead and the freshman outfielder added on a run it the fifth with an RBI single. The Glendale, California native had driven in one run over his first seven at-bats.

Hamel limited the damage before running into trouble in the seventh. The tall left-hander hit Sam Plaugher to lead off the inning. Sophomore Michael Frissora relieved Hamel and after retiring Bryce Plante on a fly out to left, allowed Rudolph to reach on a single to left, prompting a second pitching change.

Tommy Fogarty hit freshman Joseph's Deitz's first pitch and reached on an infield single. Plaugher scored on a throwing error by Pasko. Deitz (0-2) intentionally walked Bawiec to load the bases and Florio doubled down the line to score Fogarty and Rudolph, giving Elmira a 6-5 lead. The Elmira infielder came around to score on a wild pitch.

The Ducks put runners on in both the eighth and ninth innings, but Andy Reed (1-2) worked out the jams in both innings. Reed allowed two runs on six hits over seven relief innings to earn his first win of the year.

Up Next: Baseball welcomes Houghton College to Dobbelaar Field for a Friday doubleheader. The teams were originally scheduled to play a single game Friday followed by a doubleheader Saturday, but the scheduled was rearranged with the threat of inclement weather in the weekend forecast.

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