HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 31, 2019)  – Senior Donny Gherardi and freshman Sutton Dole each registered homeruns as the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team split an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader against St. John Fisher Sunday afternoon at Dobbelaar Field. 

Senior Danny Poidomani led the Ducks on the mound in game one with eight strikeouts in 6.2 innings. In game two, classmate Ryan Larsen also struck out eight batters in six innings to record his second win of the year. 

The Cardinals saw RJ Kuruts and Anthony Brophy each strike out three batters in the first game of the day as Brophy collected his first win on the mound. Allen Murphy was dealt the loss of game two after allowing four runs in three innings. 

"We feel very good about our weekend," expressed head coach Kristaps Aldins. "After a tough loss in game one, we bounced back in game two and had a very strong effort to earn the series victory. Hats off to Ryan who kept the St. John Fisher hitters off-balance all day."

Stevens took the lead in the first inning of game one when Gherardi hit his homer to left center with Dole on base to put the Ducks up 2-0. 

Fisher tied the game in the top of the third as Ryan Brown collected an RBI double before advancing to third on an error by the second baseman. Following two strikeouts by Poidomani, Brown then scored on a wild pitch. 

Gherardi answered in the bottom of the inning when he singled through the right side to send home graduate student Tommy Baronner. 

An RBI ground-rule double by Antony Mantova in the fourth put the Cardinals back in the lead. Ryan Simmons hit an RBI single and Brown doubled down the left field line before advancing to third on a fielding error by the shortstop, allowing two runs to score.

Thomas Pasquale doubled to left center to put Fisher on base to start the fifth inning. The third baseman then scored as Simmons reached on a fielder's choice to give the Cardinals a four-run lead. 

Stevens tacked on four runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at seven. Sophomore Thomas Paulich registered a two-run double before scoring on a base hit by senior Matthew Pasko. Sophomore Raymond Cortes III scored the tying run when classmate J.C. Hanley hit a sac-fly to right field. 

The Ducks then took a two-run lead in the sixth inning as Paulich sent in two more runners on a single to left center field. However, Murphy hit a two-run homerun in the top of the seventh to tie the game once again. 

Mantova reached first on an error by the center fielder with the bases loaded in the ninth to bring in the winning run. 

In game two, Stevens jumped on a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first Dole homered to right center before senior Matt Branco hit an RBI single. Junior Patrick Rood followed with an RBI single of his own, but Paulich was also able to score on the play as the shortstop overthrew to the second baseman. 

The Cardinals cut the lead to two when Pasquale hit a two-run homerun in the top of the third inning. Junior A.J. Falconite responded with a two-run single in the fourth to extend the Ducks lead back to four. 

Paulich collected his fourth hit of the day as he sent in pinch-runner Brett Mendez for Stevens' final run of the game. 

Andrew Czubaj recorded an RBI double in the top of the seventh, but a double play by Pasko and Dole ended the game and gave the Ducks their second win of the weekend. 

Up Next: The Ducks travel to New Paltz on Wednesday, April 3 for a 3:30 P.M. start.

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