HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 4, 2022) - First-year
Colby Ching delivered his first collegiate hit, but the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team fell to Montclair State University 15-0 Friday in a non-conference contest at Dobbelaar Field.
Junior
Anthony Pron (2-2) picked up the loss for the Ducks going four innings and allowing six runs on seven hits. Fellow junior
Mark DeCicco pitched a scoreless frame in the seventh inning to highlight the day pitching-wise for Stevens. The setback snapped the Ducks' four-game winning streak as Stevens moved to 6-3.
Ching was a bright spot on the day as he drove a ball hard into the right-center field gap for his first collegiate hit in the eighth inning. Meanwhile, first-year
Jason Wasko continued the impressive start to his collegiate career with a 1 for 2 performance, collecting a single up the middle. Patrick Cuccurullo (2-1) earned the win for Montclair State going six innings, scattering just three hits and striking out four. The Red Hawks won their sixth straight to move to 6-1.
"Obviously this was not the result we wanted or expected today" remarked head coach
Kristaps Aldins. "However, tomorrow is another day and we have a great opportunity to get right back out on the field. I know our team is excited to do just that and it will be an added bonus to play this quality Montclair State team at the outstanding facilities at Rutgers University. It has the making of a great New Jersey baseball weekend."
The Red Hawks jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the second inning. After taking advantage of a wild pitch to get into scoring position with two outs, Anthony Guarino plated Michael Murphy on a single through the left side. Montclair State struck again in the third inning, this time using a single from Joe Norton, a sacrifice bunt by Ryan McKenna, and a single up the middle from Peter Cosentino to stretch the lead to 2-0.
The Ducks attempted to rally in the bottom half of the third inning. First-year
Evan Pravato singled sharply to right-center and junior
Michael Reyes battled to a full count with Pravato leading off first. But the rally was snuffed out thanks to a pickoff by Cuccurullo, a ground out to the pitcher, and a strikeout swinging. From that point forth it was all Red Hawks as they tacked on two runs in the fourth and four in the fifth to coast to the win.
Aside from Ching, Pravato, and Wasko the Ducks also received a 1 for 2 afternoon from senior
Ryan Wall. First-years Joe Gonzalez and
Will Staviski, sophomore
Axel Johnson, and graduate student
Alex Smith all made appearances out of the Stevens bullpen in the loss.
Up Next: The Ducks travel to Bainton Field, home of Rutgers University on Saturday Mar. 5 to square off for two more games with Montclair State University. Both contests will be nine inning affairs.
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