BOSTON (February 29, 2020) – For the second straight game, the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team dropped a one-run contest against a team ranked inside the D3Baseball.com Top-25 as they fell 6-5 in 10 innings against No. 14/22 UMass-Boston Saturday at Monan Park.

The Ducks led 5-3 heading into the eighth inning but were unable to hold the lead as the Beacons scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth and got a walk-off RBI infield single in the bottom half of the ninth from Ryan Leung to earn the win in their season opener.

Stevens is now 3-4 on the season with three of the four losses coming in extra innings and the other coming in a 1-0 defeat at the hands of No. 24/35 Rowan University. Sophomore Tom James led the way for the Ducks, going 2 for 5 with three RBIs in the loss.

Freshman Leo Bristow produced a quality start on the hill after tossing 6.0 innings and allowing just two earned runs on five hits while striking out seven.

The Beacons pitching staff allowed five runs in the contest, all of which were unearned, while racking up 14 total strikeouts over 10.0 innings. Offensively, seven different batters produced a hit in the contest for UMass-Boston including Gianni Zarrilli and Ryan McCormick who both finished with two hits.

Only three of the nine total runs in the matchup were earned as the teams combined for six total errors in the field.

Stevens started the scoring in the top half of the fourth after Thomas Paulich drew a leadoff walk and stole second to put a runner in scoring position for Sutton Dole. The sophomore then hit an infield single to the third baseman and Paulich came racing home after the throw was airmailed to make the score 1-0.

UMass-Boston answered with a run of their own in the bottom half thanks to a Danny Brown hit a leadoff single to right field, a wild pitch, a McCormick single and an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Nico Kydes.

The Ducks then exploded for three runs in the fifth to grab a 4-1 lead. With Brett Mendez and A.J. Falconite on first and second with two away, Paulich deposited an RBI single into right field to bring home the first run of the inning. James then delivered the big hit in the inning with a two-RBI single into right to bring home Paulich and Falconite.

In the bottom on the fifth, the Beacons cut the deficit back down to two following a leadoff walk by Nick Palma, a single and an error by Mendez to make the score 4-2 heading to the sixth.

After putting up a zero in the top half of the inning, UMass-Boston got a single by Steve Brookwell, a double from McCormick and a sacrifice fly from Nick Cotraro cut the score to 4-3.

With runners on first and second with just one away, Bristow was able to limit damage in the inning by getting Palma to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Stevens responded in the seventh with two-out magic once again as Nate Zuckerman reached on an error and found himself on third with two away. James produced a big knock once again as he ripped an RBI single to left to re-extend the lead to two.

In the bottom half of the eighth inning, the Beacons found themselves with runners on second and third with one away. Chris Ducko then brought home the first run of the inning as he reached on an error to bring home Nico Kydes.

The Ducks seemed like they might get out of the inning with no further damage as Zuckerman threw out Ducko trying to steal second for the second out of the inning. UMass-Boston was not to be denied, however, as Danny Collazo raced home on a wild pitch to tie the game at five.

After escaping damage in the bottom of the ninth, the Ducks were unable to do it in back-to-back innings as the Beacons won the contest in the bottom of the 10th.

With one out in the inning, Ducko drew a walk, advanced to second on a balk and moved to third on an error that load the bases. Ducko then tried to win the game with his legs as he raced home on a ball that got passed Zuckerman but was thrown out at the plate.

With runners on second and third and two away, Leung stepped to the plate and hit a ground ball to short and was able to leg it out to clinch the 6-5 victory.

Inside the Numbers

• Anthony Pron (0-1) took the loss on the mound after taking over in the bottom of the 10th and allowing one unearned run on one hit.
• The Ducks struck out a total of nine batters in the game while the Beacons fanned 14.
• Both teams struggled with runners on base in the contest as Stevens left nine total runners on and UMass-Boston left eight on base.
• Stevens was aggressive on the bases as Zuckerman, Paulich, James and Mendez all swiped a bag in the contest.
• Paulich finished the game 2 for 4 with an RBI and a walk to join James with multiple hits.
• Joey Rogers (1-0) was fantastic in relief for the Beacons as he allowed just one unearned run on three hits while punching out six over the final 5.0 innings to pick up the win.
• Zuckerman, Dole and Chris Silos all had a hit in the matchup as the Ducks totaled seven hits as a team.

From the Dugout (Head Coach Kristaps Aldins)

• "Our team did a great job putting ourselves in a position to win the ballgame today. Unfortunately, it didn't go our way at the end. Tomorrow we have another game and it will be a great opportunity to end this mini-trip on a high note."

Next Up

• The "mini-trip" concludes Sunday as the Ducks take on Endicott College at 12:00 p.m. in Beverly, Massachusetts.
• The Gulls took home a 3-2 victory over Stevens the last time these two teams played on March 4, 2018.
• Live stats and video will be available on StevensDucks.com.

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