DALLAS, Pa. (May 8, 2022) – The third-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team split the first two games of the MAC Freedom Semifinal series on the road against No.2 Misericordia on Sunday, May 8. They won the first game by a score of 6-4 and lost the second by a score of 25-7.
 
"It was an exciting day of baseball, that's for sure," commented head coach Kristaps Aldins. "We battled and battled in game one and came back from two deficits thanks to some clutch hitting in the second half of the game. Justin Doyle and Anthony Pron had outstanding outings on the mound to put us in a position to win. The second one didn't go as planned, but we will be ready to bounce back tomorrow in the deciding game three."

Senior Brett Mendez led the Ducks with a combined four hits across both games. Senior Ryan Finegan went 2 for 3 in game one and had a team leading two RBIs. With the split, Stevens moved to 29-13 overall and Misericordia is 27-15 overall.
 
In game one, the Cougars took an early lead 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Junior Derrick Vosburg singled up the middle to bring in a run and Stevens trailed early. Misericordia added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth and led 3-0 midway through the game.
 
After a scoreless fifth inning, the Ducks began to mount a comeback in the sixth. Junior Michael Reyes drove in a run on an RBI single to start the inning and then Finegan and senior Sutton Dole each brought in one run each to tie the game at 3-3.
 
Stevens gave up a run in the eighth and then had a three-run ninth inning to comeback and close out the game. Graduate student Thomas Paulich drove in the game-winning run to make the score 5-4 and then a bases loaded walk gave the Ducks some insurance and made the score 6-4.
 
Doyle left the game after six strong innings and was credited with the no-decision. Pron (9-4) went the final three frames and was credited with the win. Junior Tyler Leonard (4-4) received the loss for the Cougars.
 
Game two was all Misericordia. The Ducks trailed 21-3 after the first five innings and then the Cougars added four more runs after that to make the final score 25-7. Reyes and Dole both went 2 for 3 in the game to lead the team and Dole had two RBI. Junior Ryan Shea (5-2) was credited with the loss and junior David McCurry (6-1) picked up the win for the Cougars.
 
Up Next: Stevens will take on Misericordia, tomorrow, Monday, May 9, for the deciding game of the MAC Freedom semifinal series. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m. at Tambur Field in Dallas, Pennsylvania.