PISCATAWAY, N.J. (March 5, 2022) – The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team continued its strong early-season play with a doubleheader sweep over Montclair State University in a pair of contests played Saturday at Bainton Field on the campus of Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. With the wins, Stevens moves its record to an impressive 6-2, while Montclair State drops to nearly identical 6-3 overall mark.
 
"After what happened yesterday, there was no question that today was going to be a chance, for our coaching staff and our baseball student-athletes themselves, to see what our team was made of. And we like what we learned," commented head coach Kristaps Aldins. "Although it is still very early in the season, I have a feeling that both Friday's 15-0 loss and today's sweep will be results that will stick with our group throughout the year. We learned a lot about our overall abilities, fortitude, competitiveness, and resiliency over the past two days. We absolutely have a lot of things to still work on and improve, but there is so much to be excited about with this team" continued Aldins.
 
Stevens got off to a strong start right off the bat as the Ducks loaded the bases on walks from senior Brett Mendez, junior Ben Tobio, and graduate student Hunter Silvernail. After a wild pitch scored the game's first run, senior Ryan Wall re-loaded the bases on yet another free pass. Senior Ryan Finegan tacked on the games second run with a sacrifice fly to left where Tobio slid just ahead of the catcher's tag on a bang-bang play at the plate. An error at third base proved costly for Montclair State as it allowed Silvernail to scamper home to make it 3-0 and extended the inning. The final blow came from first-year Evan Pravato, who collected his biggest hit of the year, to-date, as he singled sharply up the middle to provide a 5-0 cushion for the Ducks.
 
Stevens extended its lead to 6-0 in the top of the second. Mendez walked, once again, and after a flyout to center, junior Johnny Albrecht had a walk of his own putting runners on first and second. A second out was made on another flyout to center and then Wall came through with two outs with a single through the left side.
 
After the Red Hawks got on the board with a run, the Ducks really pulled away in the third with another crooked number on the scoreboard. Pravato started things with a walk, stole second, and made his way to third on a throwing error. Junior Michael Reyes brought Pravato home with a screaming double to right field. Mendez followed with his third walk of the day and then executed a double steal with Reyes to put runners on second and third. Tobio knocked them both in with a loud ground-rule double to left and promptly stole third. Silvernail capped the scoring with yet another two-out RBI, singling through the right side to score Tobio making it 10-1 in Stevens' favor.
 
Montclair State cut the lead to 10-2 but then the Ducks added another when Albrecht singled home Reyes who had tripled to left center earlier in the inning. The Ducks did, however, leave the bases loaded in the fourth, stranding Mendez who had walked for the fourth time in the contest, Tobio who had been hit by a pitch, and Albrecht.
 
Stevens starting pitcher, first-year Jordan Fisse, wiggled his way out of some jams throughout the day, but was able to put up a big zero on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth. With his pitch-count rising, Fisse left the game in the bottom half of the fifth to give way to first-year Joe Gonzalez who managed to get the final out in the fifth and then picked up two more outs in the sixth before handing the ball over to graduate student Alex Smith. Smith took it home the rest of the way for the Ducks as he got into a groove and went three and a third innings, giving up no runs and only one hit, while collecting three strikeouts versus no walks to pick up the hard-earned save.
 
The Ducks final run of the game came in the sixth as Pravato walked and stole second and then came home to score on a single to center field from Mendez.
 
On the day, 15 Stevens hitters were issued free passes, with Mendez falling just short of the NCAA single-game record of six. The Ducks were also running wild throughout game one as they swiped a season high ten bases. Wall, with his 3 for 4 performance with a run, RBI, two walks, and stolen base as well as Reyes' 3 for 6 game with two runs scored, a double, triple, RBI, and stolen base led the offense.
 
Montclair saw Peter Consentino and Jorden Jerkiewicz each achieve three hit days in the loss.
 
Gonzalez earned the win for Stevens thanks to his inning of work in the middle of the game. Brian Reiss was dealt the loss lasting just one inning and giving up five runs, of which two were earned.
 
Game two was more of the same for Stevens as they, once again, used their offense to pull away from the Red Hawks. Stevens got on the board first using a Tobio single, a walk from Wall, and a Reyes single to right field to jump out 1-0.
 
Montclair quickly tied things up in the bottom half of the frame thanks to a double from Jerkiewicz, bringing home Cosentino.
 
The Ducks jumped right back on top in the second as senior Chris Silos walked to leadoff the inning, Mendez singled making it first and second with one out. After a strikeout, Wall came up clutch again singling through the right side to bring home Pravato who had reached on a fielders choice, making it 2-1 Ducks.
 
From that point forward the pitching for both sides settled in as neither team gave up a run until the sixth when Stevens broke things open in a big way with a five-run two-out outburst, making the score 7-1. During this scoreless stretch sophomore outfielder Peter Mastropolo, who came in as a defensive replacement in the bottom of the fifth, made some critical plays in right field to keep Montclair State off the scoreboard.
 
The catalysts in the sixth inning rally were Mendez, who singled to second and appeared ready to be stranded at first due to a groundout to leadoff the inning and a foul out. The Ducks lineup had other ideas, however, as Wall kept the inning going with an infield single to third. Silvernail provided a critical insurance run with a single to left scoring Mendez making it 3-1. Reyes continued his red-hot day with a hard single to center, bringing in Wall. Finegan followed with a single up the middle bringing in Silvernail. After a pitching change, Mastropolo stepped up to the plate for his first plate appearance of the day and joined in on the fun with a hard single up the middle scoring Reyes. Silos capped the scoring with a single smashed to left field that sent Finegan across the plate to account for Stevens' 7-1 lead.
 
These runs gave Ducks starter Ryan Shea a comfortable cushion, which he and junior reliever Justin Doyle made stand for the hard-fought Stevens win. For Shea it was, arguably, his most impressive start of the year as he went six and a third innings, allowing four hits, three earned runs, struck out four and walked four against, perhaps, the best offensive lineup the Ducks have faced all year. Doyle entered the game in the seventh once Shea ran into some trouble and struck out a pair of Red Hawks after a pair of walks brought the tying run to the plate.
 
Following the conclusion of the seventh inning with the score 7-2 in the Ducks favor, the game, which was scheduled to be nine innings, was called due to darkness.
 
With the win, Shea improved to 3-0 on the season. Montclair State starter Matt Pontari dropped to 0-1, giving up five hits and two earned runs over four innings.
 
Up Next: Stevens will return home to comfortable confines of Dobbelaar Field on Mar. 11 for yet another twinbill against SUNY Old Westbury. The Panthers hold the edge in the all-time series 13-10 and captured a 6-5 win in Hoboken back in 2020.
 
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