HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 22, 2023) – Senior Michael Reyes and junior Christian Kreiser hit back-to-back homers as the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team defeated the College of Mount Saint Vincent 6-4 Wednesday in a non-conference contest at Dobbelaar Field.

Sophomore Evan Pravato singled and stole two bases and junior Jack Irby drew a bases-loaded walk for the Ducks, who won their seventh straight to improve to 13-5. 

Sean Kennedy and Jason Albert had consecutive run-scoring singles for the Dolphins who dropped to 7-6. Mount Saint Vincent has dropped four of its last five contests. The Ducks have won the last three meetings in the all-time series.

Reyes drove the fifth pitch he saw from Angelo Bartziokas (0-2) well over the right-field wall for his third homer of the season. Five pitches later, Kreiser hit a line drive shot that just cleared the right-center field wall and tucked neatly underneath the scoreboard for his team-leading fifth blast of the season. In just 18 games, Kreiser has surpassed his homer and RBI totals from his first two seasons on Castle Point combined. Kreiser, who has reached base in all 18 games this season, leads the MAC Freedom with 24 RBI and is slugging a robust .930, who also leads the conference by a wide margin.

With a two-run cushion, the Ducks again turned to senior Ryan Shea to operate in a bulk reliever role. Shea (3-1) was cruising along his first time through the order, striking out six. Mount Saint Vincent had its first hit of the game on a leadoff single up the middle by Eric Zimmerman in the sixth, but the Dolphins' designated hitter was stranded by three straight strikeouts. 

Shea retired Mount Saint Vincent in order in the seventh before running into trouble in the eighth. Jake Pierre singled to right and moved to second on a wild pitch. After a walk, the Ducks turned to junior right-hander Jacob Buurman. Buurman retired the first two batters he faced before Kennedy struck for an RBI single. Albert singled up the middle to plate the second run of the inning to force another pitching change. 

Pinch-hitter Joshua McCormick reached on an infield single, but a hard-luck throwing error by Pravato allowed Kennedy to scamper home from third to make it a two-run game. After making a slick play to prevent the slow roller from reaching the outfield, Pravato's feigned an underhanded toss to second for a force out and instead threw to first, however, his throw caromed off second baseman Chris Davis and into shallow left field. Left-hander Axel Johnson prevented further damage by forcing Johnny Brucato to ground out to Davis to end the inning.

The Ducks once again jumped out to an early lead. Junior Frank Tonina walked to lead off the second and came around to score on senior Ben Tobio's two-out double to left. Tobio promptly stole third and scored when Albert's throw sailed into left field. 

Stevens had a chance to get on the board in the first, but Bartziokas retired Davis on a flyout to right to leave the bases loaded. The Ducks have scored in the opening frame four times during their current seven-game winning streak. Bartziokas allowed three earned runs in three innings.

The Ducks added to their lead with a pair of runs in the seventh. Sophomore Victor Schilleci began the rally with a two-out walk. Reyes singled to force a pitching change. However, Dolphins' right-hander Nicholas Rodriguez struggled mightily with command, walking Kreiser on five pitches to load the bases and then walking Irby to force in a run. Kennedy moved to the mound from right field but didn't fare any better, hitting Davis with his seventh pitch to force in another run.

First-year William Sotiropoulos drew the start for Stevens and allowed a run in three innings of work.

Senior Anthony Pron struck out Dom Porto in the ninth for his third save. The right-hander has scattered just three hits over his last 7 2-2 innings with 11 punchouts.

Up Next: Baseball opens a three-game MAC Freedom series with Delaware Valley on March 24. The Ducks have won six of the seven all-time meetings between the programs. First pitch at Dobbelaar Field is set for 3 p.m. and links for live stats and video are posted to StevensDucks.com. 

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