UTICA, N.Y. (April 7, 2019)  – Five players recorded a double across two games as the Stevens Institute of Technology split an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader against Utica College Sunday afternoon. 

Three multi-run innings by the Pioneers allowed them to win the first game 7-5. Jonathan Hardy (1-4) struck out three batters in 4.1 innings to earn his first win on the mound. Senior Danny Poidomani (1-2) was handed the loss after giving up seven runs in 4.0 innings. 

Senior Ryan Larsen (3-3) earned the win of game two after 6.0 innings pitched. AJ Farina dropped to 0-2 on the mound despite recorded four strikeouts in 3.0 innings. 

After Christian Tiffin hit a double and Maki Medici singled to third base, Tim Quinlan registered an RBI double to score the first run in game one. Matthew Fitzgerald followed with an RBI groundout to give Utica a 2-0 lead at the end of the first inning. 

Sophomore Thomas Paulich scored the first run of the day for Stevens after reaching home plate on a passed ball. Sophomore Nathan Zuckerman then hit a sac-fly to center field, allowing junior Patrick Rood to score and tie the game. 

Graduate student Tommy Baronner opened up the third inning with a triple to center field. Next at bat, junior A.J. Falconite hit a sac-fly to bring in Baronner and give the Ducks their first lead of the day.

In the bottom of the inning, Kiernan Briggs worked a walk with the bases loaded the tie the game at three. Patrick Fitzgerald reached on a fielder's choice in the next at bat, as Briggs was tagged out at second. Charles McAllister scored on the play to put Utica back in the lead. Christopher Ramsundar extended the lead to two after he recorded an RBI single before being tagged out at second to end the inning. 

The Pioneers added two more runs when Ryan Palmer hit a two-run single to center field to take a 7-3 lead. 

Stevens added one run in both the fifth and sixth innings to chip away at their deficit. Senior Carlos Leon hit an RBI single in the top of the fifth to bring in Baronner while Falconite hit another sac-fly in the sixth to score N. Zuckerman. However, two groundouts and a strikeout by the Ducks in the top of the seventh inning ended game one. 

The Ducks scored two runs in the second inning of game two as senior Matt Branco recorded an RBI double and classmate Matthew Pasko reached first on an error by Utica's shortstop, allowing freshman Ben Lesher to score. 

The Pioneers scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the inning after Matthew Leviton scored on a throwing error by Leon. 

In the top of the third, Stevens added four runs thanks to two-runs singles from both Lesher and Pasko. Falconite hit an RBI double in the following inning and senior Donny Gherardi hit a sac-fly to right field, extending the lead to seven. 

Stevens tacked on two runs in the six with an RBI single from Leon and Paulich recorded an RBI on a sacrifice fly. 

After four scoreless innings for Utica, Ryan Mulholland hit an RBI single to left field to bring in Daryl Savage. With the bases loaded, Palmer hit an RBI single of his own to keep three runners on base. Thomas Giglio then walked to bring in Mulholland. Leviton scored the final run of the inning for the Pioneers after Carlos Duran hit a sac-fly. 

Paulich recorded his second RBI of the game as he walked with the bases loaded in the eighth. Lesher then reached first on an error by the first baseman, allowing both Leon and Gherardi to score. Branco added the fourth run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to center field. 

Mulholland doubled in the bottom of the inning to bring in Savage for their final run of the game. 

The Ducks added four more runs in the ninth inning to give themselves a comfortable lead as sophomore Charles Kwong, Raymond Cortes III and Gannon Kenney-McGowan each collected an RBI.   

"Winning a series on the road is always a satisfying accomplishment, but we can't help feeling like we let one slip away in game one," commented head coach Kristaps Aldins. "It was nice to see Benny Lesher get an opportunity to provide some major production for us out of the six spot in game two."

Up Next: Baseball travels to Ithaca for a conference game on Wednesday, April 10 at 4 P.M.

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