Elmira, NY -- The Elmira College baseball team hung with Stevens Institute of Technology, but a handful of untimely errors in the field led to a pair of losses to the Ducks. EC dropped the first game, 6-1, then fell 14-4 in game two.
Hayden Rothenberg '17 had a pair of hits in both games, going a combined 4-for-7 on the day.
Dylan Bellinger '17 was just 1-for-7, but his one hit provided three of EC's five total runs as the Elmira native hit his first career home run.
Game One: Stevens Tech 6, Elmira 1It was a pitcher's duel in the early innings as both Elmira's
Dennis Rudolph'18 and Stevens' Alex Detweiler were limiting the number of batters that reached base. The Ducks used a leadoff hit-by-pitch in the second inning to push across the game's first run, then got an unearned run in the second next inning to take a 2-0 lead.
EC, however, would respond in the bottom half of the third as the top of the lineup went to work. Rothenberg beat out his second-straight infield single and then advanced to second after Bawiec reached on an error. The next batter, Burghardt, singled to right field, bringing in Rothenberg and put runners on the corners with just one out. Looking to, at the very least, tie the game up, Bellinger sent a long fly ball to right center field. The Stevens right fielder caught the ball at the warning track, allowing Bawiec to tag-up, however, Burghardt had rounded second and was doubled-up before Bawiec could touch home plate, ending the inning and keeping the game at 2-1.
That would be Elmira's best opportunity to score for the remainder of the game as they had just three baserunners for the final four innings. Rudolph was doing a good job on the mound to keep the game within reach, giving up just one run between the fourth and sixth innings, but two hit batsmen in the top of the seventh led to a three-run inning for the Ducks and brought the game to its 6-1 final.
Game Two: Stevens Tech 14, Elmira 4The second game provided a bit more offense than the first as the Ducks tagged Elmira starter,
Davis Salzman'18, for six runs, four of which were earned, in the first two innings. Salzman's rising pitch count forced Coach Paluga to grab an arm from his bullpen early, bringing in
Nick Sampogna'18 with two outs in the top of the second. Sampogna would go on to pitch for the next 3.1 innings, allowing four runs, but only one earned, while striking out two.
Meanwhile, the Soaring Eagles were doing their best to figure out Ducks' starter, Gary Boardman. EC did not have their first baserunner until the third inning and did not record their first hit of the game until a Rudolph single in the bottom of the fourth inning. The bottom of the fourth inning also saw Elmira push across their first run of the contest, making it an 8-1 game.
Stevens scored two runs in the top of the fifth to make it 10-1, but Bellinger provided some fireworks as Dunn Field with his first home run of the season. Bellinger, with two runners on, got a hold of a Boardman pitch and drove it over the center field fence for his three-run home run. Bellinger's three-run blast made it 10-4, but those would be the last runs EC would score on the day.
From then on out, Stevens brought in a series of relief pitchers who allowed just three baserunners over the final four innings, one walk and two singles, bringing game two to a 14-4 close.
Elmira and Stevens Tech return to Dunn Field tomorrow, April 26th for the final game of their three-game series. The nine-inning game is set to start at 12:00 p.m.
