Hoboken, N.J. – The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team dropped the opening game of a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom series with Misericordia on Friday at Dobbelaar Field by a final of 3-1.
How It Happened
Erik Sibbach worked around a leadoff single in the first, then escaped a second-and-third, one-out jam in the second before batterymate
Griffin Zitko led off the Stevens' second with a towering shot over the right field wall, staking Sibbach to a 1-0 lead.
Sibbach again found himself in trouble in the third, with the Cougars finally breaking through on a two-run single. The Cougars had two more on in the fourth with no one out but ran themselves out of the inning via a wild play that saw one runner tagged out between first and second and the second runner thrown out at the plate.
The Ducks' defense came up clutch again in the fifth, as
Jackson Wein nabbed a Cougar trying to score from second on a base hit to right field, a feat he repeated in the Misericordia seventh. Stevens (11-9, 3-4 MACF) had two on in the sixth, a runner in scoring position in the seventh, and two on again in the eighth, but could not push even a tying run across in any of those instances.
After Misericordia tacked on an insurance run in the ninth,
Dylan Fishbough led off with a bunt single, but was replaced at first after a Wein fielder's choice and the Ducks could not advance Wein any further as the Cougars closed out the victory.
Inside the Box Score
- Sibbach hit 200 career strikeouts and matched or set season-highs with 108 pitches in eight innings of work, his fourth 100+ pitch outing of the year
- Zitko homered for the second time in his last 14 at-bats after 45 homerless at-bats to begin the season
- In addition to his big day in the field, Wein went 1-for-4 with a stolen base, his third steal (without being caught) in his last three starts
Up Next
The teams wrap the MAC Freedom series on Sunday in Dallas, Pa., with first pitch of a doubleheader scheduled for 1:00.
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