Port Charlotte, Fla. – The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team and DeSales University battled in their Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom opener until heavy rain forced the game to be halted in the bottom of the seventh inning on Friday.
The Ducks and Bulldogs were deadlocked at three, and Stevens had a runner on first base with two outs before the game was stopped. The two sides will resume action at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow, with a single nine-inning contest to take place after, with Stevens as the home team. The original Saturday contest has been postponed and will be rescheduled once the two teams are back in the Northeast.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bulldogs drew first blood, scoring a run in the top of the first on a single, two stolen bases, and a throwing error. Edward (E.J.) Balewitz Jr. and
Dylan Fishbough tallied one-out singles in the home half of the inning but were stranded as a strikeout and lineout ended the first. DeSales added two tallies in the second to go up 3-0, as an RBI double and RBI single accounted for the runs. Stevens got one back in the bottom of the stanza, as
Adam Barrington led off with a triple. The first-year came home on a run-scoring groundout from
Tyler Wilke.
David Finch fanned two in the third and notched his first scoreless frame after completing the inning with a ground ball.
Raphael Schneider replaced Finch in the fourth and, after walking the first hitter, promptly picked the runner off first.
Griffin Zitko, making his first start and second appearance of the season behind the plate, gunned a runner out at second trying to steal to end the fourth.
Garret Wolf and Barrington tallied singles to lead off the fourth, and Wolf came around to score after a throwing error by the Bulldogs' third baseman. Barrington came across with the tying run as
Adam Kobayashi reached on an error by the third baseman, leveling the game at three. Wolf escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the sixth with a flyout and strikeout, and the Ducks got out of the seventh with a groundout.
The first two hitters in the seventh were set down before
Aaron Wong worked a seven-pitch walk. The game was called at that point and will resume tomorrow.
UP NEXT
The game will resume tomorrow at 11 a.m. from the point of interruption, with a second game approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
