Score: Stevens 15 – Elmira 10
Records: Stevens (19-10, 10-2 Empire 8), Elmira (8-15, 2-8 Empire 8)
Location: Dunn Field – Elmira, NY
 
Elmira, NY -- The Elmira College baseball team was three outs away from securing one of the biggest wins in program history against Empire 8 Conference leading Stevens Institute of Technology on Sunday afternoon. The Soaring Eagles led 8-7 entering the ninth inning, but the Ducks offense had one last say in the matter, scoring once in the ninth to force extra-innings, before exploding for seven runs in the 10^th inning to push past Elmira in a 15-10 decision.
 
Trailing for the entire first half of the game, after Ducks scored four times in the first inning and added on a run in the second, Elmira staged its comeback effort in the fifth. Stringing together big innings has been a theme for the team the entire weekend and EC showed its ability to put up a crooked number again. The Soaring Eagles pushed five runs across to tie the game, while they would take their first lead of the afternoon with two more runs in the sixth.
 
Matt van Muelken '18 led off the inning with a single to right field, while Bryce Plante followed with a perfectly executed hit-and-run on which van Muelken advanced to third base. Hayden Rothenberg '17 got the scoring going when he roped a single to left to bring home van Muelken. Dennis Rudolph '18 loaded the bases when he drove a high fly ball that was misplayed by the Stevens' right fielder. EC knocked out Stevens' starter Greg Jakusik, as Bellinger bashed a ground-single through the right side that brought home both Plante and Rothenberg.
 
The Ducks turned to reliever Bret Viola. Although he was effective in retiring the next three Elmira batters, the Soaring Eagles took advantage of his wildness to take the lead. Viola threw two wild pitches, with the second bringing home Rudolph and putting Bellinger 90-feet away at third base. Brian Wehmeyer '16 brought home the EC first baseman with a sacrifice fly to right to make the game 6-6.
 
After the visitors pushed across a run in the top of the sixth to break the deadlock, Elmira got its bats going again in the bottom half of the inning. Jack Thistle '18 got the rally going with an opposite-field double into the left-center gap. van Muelken rolled a single that deflected off the third-base bag to put runners on the corners. Two batters later, EC retied the game when Rothenberg lined a ball that was just out of reach of Stevens' first baseman P.J. Wiegartner, skipping off the top of his mitt. Rudolph gave the Soaring Eagles their first lead with a lined-single into left to make it 8-7.
 
The lead remained the same until the top of the ninth inning. EC turned the ball over to Rudolph looking to lock down the win, but the Ducks did not go down without a fight. EC's second-year pitcher retired Wiegartner with a moderately deep fly ball to center to begin the inning, but Stevens got things going with one out. Pinch-hitter David Ferrera drew a walk, before being lifted for pinch-runner Harrison Kaye. Jonathan Toro was hit by a pitch to put the tying run in scoring position and Stevens' leading hitter Jayson Yano brought him home with a softly hit single into right field.
 
Elmira nearly won the game in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the ninth when late-inning substitution Cameron Heggie '18 led off the inning with a lined-single to left field. He swiped second base with one out, but back-to-back ground outs to second base left Heggie stranded at third base.
 
Riding the momentum from the previous inning, the Ducks wasted little time in getting the offense going in extra innings. Stevens had its first five batters reach base, while three straight hits made the score 11-8. Toro and Yano broke the game open, as Toro drove a two-RBI triple into deep left-center, while Yano cleared the left-field fence with a two-run bomb to cap the scoring. The visitors took a 15-8 lead into the bottom half.
 
Elmira did not go down without a fight, as Bellinger continued his big afternoon. The hometown star bashed his second homerun in as many weekends, launching a two-run blast over the left-field fence. Unfortunately, the rally stalled from there, as Ducks reliever Zeph Walters struck out Bawiec and Wehmeyer to end the game.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Stevens outhit Elmira 19-to-14 in the contest.
• Both teams finished with four defensive miscues.
• Elmira had 8-of-9 batters in its starting lineup collect at least one hit.
• Nine batters in total recorded at least one hit for Elmira.
• Bellinger had a big afternoon, going 2-for-5 with a homer, two runs scored, four RBIs, and a walk.
• Rothenberg continued his strong weekend, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs.
• van Muelken finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
• Nate Hanner '18 had Elmira's other multi-hit effort, going 2-for-3.
• Rudolph finished 1-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI.
• Thistle went 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored, while Plante finished 1-for-5 with a run scored.
• Heggie singled in his lone at-bat, while he also collect Elmira's lone stolen base.
• Bawiec brought home Elmira's first run with an RBI-single in his first at-bat.
• Andy Reed '19 got the start on the mound for EC, grinding out a solid six inning performance. Although the Ducks were able to plate five runs in the first two innings, he settled in to complete six innings and was in line for the win until Stevens late comeback. He allowed seven runs with five of them being earned.
• Joe Marigliano '17 turned in another strong relief appearance, going 1.1 scoreless innings.
• Nick Zorge '19 also made a scoreless appearance, allowing one hit in 0.2 innings of work.

 
News and Notes

• With the loss, Elmira was swept in its season series with Stevens.
• The Soaring Eagles are now 0-6 all-time against the Ducks.
• Elmira fell to 8-2 this season when leading heading into the final inning.
• Bawiec extended his hitting streak to nine straight games, while his on-base streak stretched to 34 straight contests with his first-inning RBI-single.
• Bellinger set a single-season career high with his third homer of the season.
• With his four-RBI effort, Bellinger tied his career high, while he upped his season total to 27.

 
Up Next
Elmira returns to action on Tuesday evening when it continues its homestand by welcoming Alfred State to Dunn Field for a non-conference tilt. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.