The Rensselaer baseball team has been coming together in recent weeks and appears to be on track for their usual date with the NCAA tournament. After last weekend’s 53 runs, the Red Hawks needed to keep things rolling.
They did just that as they won six out of seven games this past week and set a new school record when they scored 31 runs in a single game.
Last Tuesday, the team travel to Poughkeepsie to take on the Brewers of Vassar. The game started off slowly with neither team able to get on the board as Rensselaer Pitcher Travis Teeter and Vassar’s Scott Koplik squared off in an early-inning pitching duel.
RPI managed to break through in the third when Koplik beaned Catcher Ben Noonan, putting him at first with no outs. Coach Karl Steffen decided to manufacture a run as he had Center Fielder Matt Faraone lay down a sacrifice, advancing Noonan to second. Shortstop Brendan Witherell followed that up with a single which advanced Noonan to third but didn’t score him. With runners at the corners, the Brewers proceeded to walk First Baseman Pat Hughes, loading the bases with only one out. Vassar was now looking for the double play or at least a force out at home, as Teeter came to the plate. Teeter helped his own cause, singling to drive in 2 runs and send Hughes to second. Koplik managed to work his way out of the inning with help from a pickoff, limiting the Red Hawks’ attack to 2.
Teeter continued to blank the Brewers and the Red Hawks were back on the attack in the top of the fourth. Rookie Right Fielder Nick Parenteau doubled to open the inning and Rookie Left Fielder Brian Marine followed with a double of his own to score Parenteau. It looked like the Red Hawks might have really gotten to Koplik, but he managed to work his way out of the jam with the use of another pickoff.
The Red Hawks added another run in the fifth when Faraone tripled and came home on a Koplik balk. Rensselaer added another in the seventh when Faraone doubled again and scored on a single by Hughes.
The real story of the game was the dominance displayed by Teeter. The veteran hurler went the distance for the shutout, scattering two hits and striking out five.
In the second contest, the Red Hawks sent Hughes to the hill.
The first inning was troublesome for the hard-throwing righthander as he allowed a leadoff triple to Vassar’s Reinhardt. Fortunately, Hughes got two Ks and a popout to first base to get out of the jam.
The Red Hawks took advantage of this momentum swing to get on the scoreboard in the top of the second. Marine singled to advance Parenteau, who reached on an error. First Baseman Scott Gianoni singled to score Parenteau and send Marine to second.
Hughes continued to make the 1-run lead stand up, and the Red Hawks did some major damage in the top of the fourth. Third Baseman David Hubbs was hit by a pitch to start the inning and proceeded to steal second. Parenteau struck out but then reached first base on an error by Vassar catcher Joe Gorton. Marine doubled scoring Hubbs, Gianonni sent a sac fly to center field that scored Parenteau, and Tim Egan then doubled Marine home. The Brewers managed to work out of the inning without further damage, leaving the bases full of Red Hawks.
In Vassar’s half of the inning Hughes hit leadoff batter Ethan Schmid to start things off. Schmid then advanced to third when Third Baseman Chris Shukie doubled. Designated Hitter Vin D’Angelo followed with a walk. Hughes then threw a wild pitch which allowed Schmid to score and moved D’Angelo and Shukie to second and third respectively. Hughes then struck out Second Baseman Adam Najemy before hitting Catcher Joe Gordon. With the bases juiced again, Hughes forced Justin Hergianto to hit into a fielder’s choice in which Shukie was forced out at the plate. Hughes then walked the next batter, forcing home a run. This led to a pitching change, as Hughes moved to DH and Justin Pappas became the new pitcher.
Pappas’ first hitter, Center Fielder Hunter Berryhill, singled driving in 2 runs. This was followed by a pop out by Shortstop Brett Lampiasi to end the inning.
The Red Hawks added single runs in each of the next two innings and Pappas shut down the Brewers to preserve a 9-4 win.
With these two victories, the Red Hawks improved their record to 13-9 and won their seventh straight game.
On Friday, the Red Hawks hit the road to play Utica. This game would prove to be a very one-sided affair. Rensselaer set school records for the number of hits and tied a school record for number of runs as they defeated Utica, 31-8.
The Pioneers kept the game close as they nearly matched RPI’s 4 runs in the first with 3 of their own in the bottom of the first. The game remained close for a couple of more innings before RPI put 2 runs up in both the third and fourth innings. Utica responded with 4 in the bottom of the fifth. RPI laid to rest all the questions as to the outcome of the game when they put a 9-spot up in the seventh.
The scoring barrage continued as the Red Hawks added 5 in the eighth and 9 in the ninth. The Pioneers managed a total of 8 runs, but they couldn’t muster anything close to the Red Hawks’ 31.
Parenteau led the way in the hit department with five, including three doubles, and had 4 runs, and 4 runs batted in. Seth Shuket collected three hits and drove in 7 runs, including a grand slam; he also scored 3 runs. Teeter added a couple of singles, a triple, and a home run while driving in 2 runs and scoring 5. Dan Stevenson went 1-for-3 with 3 runs scored. Hughes weighed in by going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. DH Steven Palmer was perfect on the day with three hits, 2 runs, and 3 RBI in three at-bats. Egan also had a strong day as he went three-for-five with 3 runs scored and 3 RBI.
With an eighth straight win under their belt, the Red Hawks hosted archrival Union at Robison Field.
In the top of the first, the Dutchmen jumped on top 2-0, giving Rensselaer a hole to dig out of. Fortunately, the Red Hawks were more than up to the task as they came through with 5 runs in the bottom of the second. The Red Hawks continued to build their lead, eventually opening an 8-2 margin heading into the top of the seventh.
But the Dutchmen of Union were not done yet. The Dutchmen put 2 runs on the board and had two runners on with two outs. Chris Hartnett then stepped to the plate and cracked a home run to cut the Red Hawks’ lead to 1. Fortunately, Teeter managed to regain form and recorded the final out.
At the plate, the Red Hawks were led by Hughes who went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI. Teeter, in addition to eight Ks and a complete game, also came up big at the plate as he went 2-for-3 and scored 2 runs. Hubbs was perfect with a 4-for-4 day at the plate and added an RBI and a run scored.
In the second game, Rensselaer flexed their offensive muscle and produced a 19-7 final.
Hubbs came through once again as he went 3-for-5 with 3 runs scored. Parenteau went 3-for-5, drove in 4 runs and scored 3. Egan added a 2-for-4 day with 3 runs scored while Faraone completed a day of twos, going 2-for-2 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored.
The Red Hawks then put their 10-game winning streak on the line against the Thoroughbreds of Skidmore.
The Thoroughbreds came out with a lot of fire and scored 3 runs in the top of the first to put the Red Hawks on the spot. Further more, the number of games during the week had forced Rensselaer to go deep into their pool of pitchers, opening up even more chances for Skidmore.
The Red Hawks responded offensively with 2 in the second before adding 4 in the fourth and 3 in the fifth. Skidmore would manage single runs in the fourth and fifth. Rookie Pitcher Max Miller settled down after the first and threw a solid ball game, before giving way to Eddie Haldeman, who pitched two scoreless innings to pick up the save.
At the plate for the Red Hawks, Marine went 2-for-3 and scored two runs. Shuket drove in most of the runs as he went 2-for-3 with 6 RBI. Egan added 2 RBI while going 2-for-2.
In the second game, the Red Hawks used six pitchers, including three in the bottom of the seventh alone, but came up short against the Thoroughbreds, ending their 11-game winning streak.
Skidmore trailed 3-0 when they exploded for 7 runs in the third. The Red Hawks responded with 4 in their half of the frame to tie the score. The teams traded runs in the fourth and RPI scored a run in the fifth to go up 9-8, apparently headed to victory.
But then the Red Hawks had a minor case of déjà vu, as Skidmore repeated Union’s feat and put 5 runs on the board in the top of the seventh. RPI rallied for 2 in the bottom of the inning, but came up short, losing by a final of 13-11.
The most notable stat in the box score of this game, other than the score, is the fact that the Red Hawks committed four errors. While it had seemed that their defense was on the rise, this game was a setback. The errors accounted for 4 un-earned runs, well more than the margin of victory.
Still, the week helped the Red Hawks turn their season around in a big way. Rensselaer upped their overall record to 17-10 and improved to 9-1 in the UCAA with only two more league games remaining. If the Red Hawks win those, they will lock up their 10th consecutive NCAA berth as they will earn the conference’s automatic bid.
The Red Hawks will be on the road facing the Massachussetts College of Liberal Arts before they head west to play RIT and Rochester in double-headers on Saturday and Sunday.
