Ambler, Pa. – The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team swept a MAC Freedom doubleheader Saturday from Arcadia, picking up a critical series win in their quest for a conference tournament berth, winning 4-3 and 14-8.

Stevens (18-13, 8-7) move one game ahead of Lebanon Valley for the fourth and final conference tournament berth and pulled within two games of the Knights, with whom they now hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.

How it Happened – Game 1
Trailing 1-0 headed to the fourth in a seven-inning game, Jackson Wein and Griffin Zitko each singled with one out ahead of Garret Wolf, who doubled home Wein. Quinton Sterling followed with an infield single, scoring Zitko.

That 2-1 Stevens lead held into the bottom of the sixth, when the Knights tied the game on a wild pitch, but David Finch kept the game tied, working out of a second-and-third, one-out jam unscathed.

In the top of the seventh, Chip Krese started a two-out rally with a single to left. Wein swung and missed at a 3-2 offering, but a wild pitch allowed him to reach and, with Krese running on the pitch, put him on third. Next up stepped Zitko who, on an 0-2 count, lofted a shallow fly ball that fell in after the Arcadia outfield struggled to see through the sun, with Krese and Wein both scoring on the play.

Both runs proved critical in the bottom of the inning as the Knights halved the Ducks' lead and had the tying and winning runs in scoring position with two out, but Connor Herlihy induced a game-ending groundout to second.

How it Happened – Game 2
Stevens fell behind 2-0 after one and 3-0 after two, but started chipping away in the fourth, pushing a run across on a Krese single, Zitko walk, and Adam Barrington run-scoring error by the Arcadia second baseman. In the fifth, the Ducks got another run back following a Veer Wadhwani single, Vinnie Stigliano walk, and Krese sac fly after Wadhwani and Stigliano both moved up on a wild pitch.

In the sixth, with the bases loaded and one out, Adam Kobaywahi tied the game with a groundout, scoring Quinton Sterling and Wadhwani followed with a go-ahead two-run single, plating Barrington and Dylan Fishbough.

After Arcadia got a run back in the sixth, the Ducks broke the game open and blew the doors off in the eighth. Stevens sent 12 men to the plate in a frame that featured five singles, a double, three walks, a hit by pitch and, most importantly, eight runs crossing the plate, putting the Red and Gray up 13-4.

Arcadia did put four on the board in the bottom of the eighth, but the Ducks still led by five heading to the ninth, where Edward "E.J." Balewitz Jr. put the final run of the day on the board with an RBI single.

Inside the Box Score(s)

• Finch earned his third win of the year in Game 1 after allowing a single earned run in six innings of work, striking out a season-high nine
• The Ducks' 1-through-3 hitters (Krese, Wein, Zitko) finished Game 1 4-for-11, scoring all four of the team's runs
• Krese extended his hitting streak to 14 games (highest total for the team this season), finishing the day 3-for-6, raising his average to a team-best .383; Zitko and Sterling both extended their hitting streaks to nine games
• Ryan Ciesla earned the win in Game 2 after allowing just one hit in two scoreless innings of relief
• Saturday marked the seventh doubleheader the teams have played since 2021 and the first time Stevens came away with a sweep

Up Next
The Ducks host Hudson County foe NJCU Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 PM at Dobbelaar Field.

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