HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 14, 2023) – Sophomore Evan Pravato hit a key three-run homer, senior Justin Doyle allowed a run over seven effective innings, and the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team defeated Wilkes University 6-3 Friday in a MAC Freedom matchup at Dobbelaar Field. 

Senior Chris Davis had three hits and sophomore Daniel Roman walked twice and stole a base as the Ducks won their second straight to improve to 20-9 on the year and to 11-5 in the MAC Freedom. Stevens has won 20 or more games nine times under current head coach Kristaps Aldins and in each of the last three seasons. The victory kept Stevens a game-and-a-half behind Misericordia, who defeated Lycoming 12-8. 

Todd Kolbicka had an RBI double and Jason Spezzaferra had two singles and an RBI for Wilkes, who fell to 13-18 on the year and to 7-11 in league play. The Colonels are a game ahead of Delaware Valley for the fifth, and final, spot in the conference tournament. Stevens has won six of the eight all-time meetings between the programs, including each of the five meetings in Hoboken.

Leading 3-1, Pravato's fifth-inning blast seemed to provide the Ducks with a comfortable cushion. Junior Jack Irby led off with a walk. Two batters later, Roman worked a six-pitch walk off reliever Hunter Lawall, who battled the strike zone throughout his three innings of work. After a lineout, Roman and Irby executed a successful double steal, setting the stage for Pravato's heroics. After falling behind, Pravato worked the count full and drove Lawall's 3-2 pitch over the right-field wall for his second career homer. 

Stevens built an early lead against Wilkes right-hander Tegan Shortridge (3-1). The Ducks struck for another first-inning run on junior Christian Kreiser's RBI groundout and then added a pair of runs in the second on Pravato's infield single and sophomore Victor Schilleci's RBI single. The Ducks' shortstop finished with a career-high four RBI.

The early offense provided Justin Doyle (5-3) with all the offense he'd need. The right-hander allowed a run on six hits and struck out four and completed seven innings for the second time in his career. 

Wilkes threatened in the third, but the first of two fantastic Stevens defensive plays saved a run. Darren Kerdesky worked a two-out walk, one of three free passes given out by Doyle on the afternoon. Mike Show then drove Doyle's next pitch into right field. Kerdesky was given the green light rounding third, however, Kreiser fired a perfect strike to Schilleci, who sent a perfect relay throw to junior Frank Tonina at the plate to easily nab Kerdesky to keep Doyle's shutout bid intact. Wilkes finally broke through in the fifth on Spezzaferra's run-scoring single.

The Colonels made things interesting in the ninth. After sophomore Matt Villapiano retired the first two batters of the inning, Spezzaferra singled and moved to second on a throwing error. Kolbicka doubled to left to score Spezzaferra to cut into the Stevens lead. Kerdesky walked and Show appeared to extend the inning with a single to center, scoring Kolbicka. However, miscommunication on the basepaths found Show caught between first and second and Kerdesky camped at second. Kerdesky was forced to head to third and an alert play by Roman, who initially misplayed the ball, fired to Pravato, who then sent a perfect strike to Davis to nab Kerdesky at third for the final out of the game. 

Junior Jacob Buurman fired a scoreless inning. The Sussex, New Jersey native has allowed just an unearned run over 7 1-3 innings (five appearances). 

THIEVERY
The Ducks swiped five bases against the second-hardest team to run on in the MAC Freedom. Entering the game, teams were successful on just 75% of their stolen base attempts, but the Ducks were successful on each of their five attempts. The Ducks have stolen five or more bases five times this season.

Up Next: Baseball heads to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Saturday to wrap up the teams' three-game series with a doubleheader. First pitch for game one is set for noon and links for live stats and video are posted to StevensDucks.com.

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