RPI met Castleton State three times last week, beginning with a 7-0 shutout win on Wednesday.

The pitching performances turned in by freshmen Joe Zongol and Tim Klein were outstanding that day. Zongol picked up his second win in as many starts, and Klein worked out of the bullpen for Coach Steffen.

“We hope they will continue to progress,” Steffen said regarding his young pitchers. “They’ve been our most consistent starters.”

Zongol pitched the first 5.2 innings allowing five hits, and striking out six. Klein earned the save with 3.1 innings of one-hit ball, adding three Ks to the box score. “I can’t complain about their production,” Steffen added.

The offense wasted no time getting on the board. Mike Passante led off the game with a single, something the second through fifth hitters in the lineup are growing accustomed to. After advancing to second, Ben Meacham, who got the start at first base over Dan Quinn, drove Passante in.

Later in that game, RPI took advantage of mistakes by Castleton to score the rest of their runs. Ill-advised throws to wrong bases, and wild pitches led to big innings for the Red Hawks’ offense in the fourth and fifth innings when they scored two and three runs consecutively.

The following day, RPI hosted Castleton State for a double-header. The teams split, with RPI winning the first 5-1, and the Spartans stealing the night cap 5-4.

Castleton got on the board first in the opener. Mike Phelps led off the game with a double, and was driven home by a sacrifice fly later in the inning. The Spartans also threatened in the second, with runners at second and third and no outs. Starting pitcher Chris Sullivan got out of the jam with a strikeout and a little help from his defense as Joe Ihnatolya threw out a man at home.

After that, Sullivan settled down and allowed his offense to take the lead. He allowed only four more hits in the next four plus innings to pick up his first victory of the season.

“Sullivan has improved every time out,” Steffen said about his staff ace. “When we get all five [starters] going, we will be able to send good pitching to the mound on a consistent basis.”

Stevan Slusher was the catalyst for the Red Hawks during game one on Wednesday. He singled home Rich Mundy to put RPI on the board in the fourth frame. He was pulled for a pinch runner, Jason Pollard, who stole third base two batters later on a double steal. With the bases loaded and two outs, however, BG Porter could not get the job done.

The Hawks grabbed the lead in the next inning, and piled on three more runs in the sixth, led by the one-two punch of Passante and Porter. They led off the inning with consecutive singles, and allowed Ihnatolya and Mundy to knock them in.

Game two didn’t go as well for Steffen’s squad. The game started off in much the same fashion, with Phelps crossing the plate first for the Spartans. RPI came back following an RPI double in the third by Ihnatolya that scored Pollard, and sacrifices in the fourth that brought two more home, but starting pitcher Luke Calzone was the victim of a bad inning in the fifth, and Castleton State regained the lead, 5-3.

“We had a bad inning,” Steffen explained, “but we came back. Unfortunately [Ryan Devito] hit a nice ball, but it got turned into a double play.”

After a comeback attempt by RPI in the sixth, the game was called on account of darkness. “With a few more innings,” Steffen said, “we could have come out on top.”

On Friday afternoon, the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts came to town. Senior pitcher Charlie Yarnold got the nod on the mound, and after a rocky start, picked up his third win of the season as the Red Hawks dispatched MCLA, 8-3.

Through three and a half frames, the Trailblazers had a 3-2 lead, but that wouldn’t last long. MCLA committed five errors that led to three unearned runs in the contest, and severely impacted their chances to win.

In the home half of the fourth, Mundy led off with a double, and was driven in by designated hitter Nick Parenteau. After being advanced to third by Slusher, Parenteau scored on a double play ball. After Passante singled and stole second, he scored due to an error on ball hit by Porter. The three run inning put the Red Hawks up for good.

Steffen was impressed at the number of different players who contributed to the wins last week. Passante led the way, and was named Liberty League’s Performer of the week for the second time this season. But others, such as Slusher, who was named Co-Rookie of the Week for his contributions, Parenteau, Porter, and Mundy all chipped in at one time or another.

Coach Steffen believes that this is necessary for a “championship caliber team.” He admitted that it was “nice to see the balance, when other guys weren’t up to their normal standard.”