Stevens Splits with SUNY New Paltz and Mount St. Mary College
Justin Lutes
WAPPINGER FALLS, N.Y. (March 16, 2013) – The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team splits its first two games of the SUNY New Paltz Tournament at Dutchess Stadium on Saturday against New Paltz and Mount St. Mary College. Stevens defeated the Hawks, 5-4, in the opener but dropped a 3-1 decision to Mount St. Mary in the second game. The Ducks are now 7-3 this season.
Stevens 5, New Paltz 4
In the opener, Stevens’ offense was virtually stymied for the first 26 outs of the nine-inning affair, but the Ducks plated four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs and walked-off with a 5-4 win against the Hawks.
Junior
Dan Allen (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) led off the inning by reaching on an error and then advanced to second after freshman
Jayson Yano (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) was hit by a pitch with one out.
After a foul out left the Ducks with two down and a three-run deficit, sophomore
Ryan Mannello (Staten Island, N.Y.) drew a walk to load the bases. Freshman
Tyler Bush (Bristol, Conn.) entered the game as a pinch hitter and picked up a run batted in with another free pass that scored Allen. With the score now 4-2, Yano came into score on a balk which then moved runners up to second and third base. Junior
Curt Lowenstein (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) then came up to the plate and singled to left field which brought Mannello and Bush home for the game-tying and winning runs.
Lowenstein finished the first game with a stolen base and two hits in four at bats, while Allen and Yano each picked up one hit and a run scored. Sophomore
Brian Hennelly (Holbrook, N.Y.) drove in a run as part of the 1-for-4 effort.
Senior
Tyler Courter (Glenwood, N.J.) started the game but was not in on the decision after 5.1 innings pitched. Courter allowed 10 hits and four runs while striking out two hitters. Classmate
Kevin Mathews (Jackson, N.J.) earned the win by tossing a scoreless ninth inning.
Junior
Mark Poinsett (Ocean Gate, N.J.) threw 2.2 innings of relief and struck out two batters.
Mount St. Mary 3, Stevens 1
Stevens could only score once in the seventh inning but had runners on third base in the first and fifth innings but were unable to push anything across.
In the first, sophomore
Gregg Nickels (Simpsonville, S.C.) singled with one out and moved up to third after a double by senior
Michael Donovan (Frisco, Texas) with two outs. The next batter for the Ducks struck out to end the inning.
In the fifth inning, Courter reached on an error to start the inning and found himself on third after sophomore
Marc Calleo (Bayville, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch and Lowenstein singled to load the bases with no outs. The next three hitters could not get the ball out of the infield and the threat was eliminated.
Mount St. Mary scored the first run of the game in the fourth and after a deadlock at 1-1 after seven, the Knights scored twice in the bottom of the eighth which proved to be the difference.
Lowenstein once again put together a solid game, going 3-for-5 with a stolen base. Donovan went 2-for-4, including the double and Courter batted 1-for-3 with a double and run scored.
Sophomore
Gary Boardman (Staten Island, N.Y.) went six inning and struck out four in the no decision. Boardman allowed four hits and an earned run.
Yano suffered the loss in the final two innings on two hits and two runs (one earned) with a strikeout.
Stevens will be back in action tomorrow at 12 p.m. against Baruch College to wrap up the New Paltz Tournament.