HOBOKEN, N.J. (May 11, 2018)  – Senior Alex Detweiler drove in three runs and junior Donny Gherardi scored three times, but the Stevens Institute of Technology Baseball team fell to St. John Fisher College 20-9 Friday evening in an Empire 8 Conference Championship elimination game at Dobbelaar Field.

Freshman Raymond Cortes III drove in two runs and senior Tommy Baronner scored twice for the Ducks, who dropped their second straight to fall to 26-17.

Scott Eisenmenger drove in six runs for St. John Fisher, who finished the day at 28-15. The Cardinals staved off elimination earlier with a 13-7 victory over Houghton College in the first game of the day. Fisher advances to Saturday's Empire 8 Championship, where Ithaca College awaits. The Bombers walked-off Stevens 8-7 earlier in the afternoon to reach the final and previously defeated St. John Fisher 17-11 on the opening day of the tournament. The 29 combined runs between Stevens and St. John Fisher set a new championship record.

With its season on the line, the Ducks overcame an early deficit with a pair of runs in the fourth off Jake Hewitt. Baronner connected for a one-out single to begin the rally. Gherardi singled down the right field line to move the speedy leadoff hitter to third. Hewitt hit sophomore Patrick Rood to load the bases. Detweiler, who had an RBI single in the third, sharply singled down the right field line to score Baronner and Gherardi to give Stevens a 6-5 lead. The slugging first baseman increased his RBI total to 52, extending his program record. Detweiler is also hitting a team-leading .380. The visiting Cardinals scored a pair of runs in the first and three in the second to take an early five-run lead. Freshman Charles Kwong's sacrifice fly put Stevens on the board in second.

St. John Fisher regained the lead with three in the fourth and then exploded for 12 runs in the fifth against Andrew Hamel (1-3) and a pair of relievers. Eisenmenger had the big blow of the inning with a three-run homer off Chandler Brierley as the Cardinals sent 17 batters to the plate in the inning.

The Ducks added three in the eighth on Gherardi's RBI double and Cortes' two-run single. 

Senior Drew Hanke, who converted to a pitcher last season, pinch-hit in the ninth for first at-bat since April 30, 2016. Hanke just missed a home run by a few feet before striking out.

Pat Galer (1-0) earned his first career victory with 2 1-3 scoreless innings. Sophomore Michael Frissora and freshman Tyler Armstrong threw scoreless innings for Stevens.

Up Next: Stevens can still reach the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship via an at-large bid. Sixteen teams will reach the tournament via a "Pool C" (at-large) bid. The Ducks were ranked third in the New York region in the most-recent NCAA Regional Rankings. The entire 58-team field will be released in the early-morning hours on May 15.

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