HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 25, 2023) – Sophomore Eli Somers set career highs in RBI (5), hits (3) home runs (2), and runs scored (2) as the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team defeated New Jersey City University (NJCU) 8-6 Tuesday night in a non-conference contest at Dobbelaar Field.

Somers' career day powered the Ducks (25-11) to their third straight win. Stevens is an impressive 15-5 in games played in Hoboken this season. They improved to 10-1 all-time against the Gothic Knights.

NJCU (11-24) drops their fifth consecutive game. The Gothic Knights are 0-3 against MAC Freedom teams this season as they lost to FDU-Florham and Wilkes earlier in the season.

Opening up the game, the Gothic Knights tallied one run in both the first and second innings to give the visitors a early 2-0 lead. Both runs came off of graduate Joshua Casado, who pitched a total of one and two-thirds innings. He gave up two runs on just one hit.

Somers' first home run came on a solo shot in the second inning. With two runners out and a full count, Somers laced a ball over the towering right field wall to cut the deficit in half for the Ducks.

The Ducks turned things up a notch in the bottom of the third as they tacked on six runs to take a big 7-2 lead over NJCU. Sophomore Evan Pravato was able to get a leadoff single and was able to make it home in the inning on an RBI from senior Michael Reyes. With two outs, the Ducks were able to load the bases with junior Christian Kreiser, junior Jack Irby, and sophomore Jack Stafford. With the bases loaded, Somers smashed the first pitch he saw into right field as he tallied his first career grand slam. The bombs weren't finished for the Ducks, as sophomore Victor Schilleci cracked one of his own in the very next at-bat.

After two scoreless innings, NJCU tallied one run in the top of the sixth. D.J. Dekis tallied an RBI single as the visitors cut into the Duck lead.

Stevens was able to tack on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to restore their five fun lead. With senior Chris Davis on second and Reyes on first after reaching by a single, Kreiser hit a single to left center to score Davis. 

NJCU made things interesting in the ninth inning. Their first two batters reached on singles to put two runners on base for the Gothic Knights. In the next at-bat, Ricky Voss hit a three-run homer to right center to get within two. Head coach Kristaps Aldins then inserted senior Anthony Pron (7) to get the save. Pron got the next three batters, including two strikeouts, to seal the victory for the Ducks.

First-year William Sotiropoulos (3-0) earns yet another win for the Ducks. He pitched five innings in relief, allowing just one run on three hits. He also recorded five strikeouts. Sophomore Joe Gonzalez also featured for the Ducks. He pitched 1.1 innings, giving up three runs on four hits.

Julian Fernandez (4-5) started for the Gothic Knights. He pitched just three innings and allowed seven runs on five hits.

Up Next: Baseball hosts DeSales for game one of a pivotal three game series on Friday, April 28 in a MAC Freedom contest. Stevens just needs one win in the series to lock up the #3 seed in the MAC Freedom tournament and avoid the play-in game. The Ducks are 9-5 all-time against the Bulldogs. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. and links for live stats and video are posted to StevensDucks.com.