Big innings and costly errors hurt the RPI baseball team last week, leading to a 2-3 record on the road against some stiff competition. The Red Hawks, who entered the week ranked number 25 in the nation in the American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball Poll, lost two games in a row before sweeping a double header with Ithaca College.
Montclair State feasted on RPI’s pitching, including freshman starter Tim Klein, as they took the battle of the Red Hawks 10-6. Klein got batted around for six earned runs and eight hits in 3.2 innings.
RPI got on the board first with a two-run effort in the top of the third only to be matched by Montclair in the bottom half of the inning. BG Porter and Dan Quinn knocked in the first two runs for Karl Steffen’s squad.
RPI picked up where they left off, picking up three more runs in the fourth while playing some small ball in the process. After a leadoff single by Nick Parenteau, Ryan Meron was plunked by Montclair reliever Ray Anderson.
The two runners successfully pulled off a double steal, and scored on an error by the Montclair second baseman. Joe Ihnatolya knocked in another run later in the inning with a fielder’s choice.
Montclair, though, would not go away. In the home half of the fourth, they erupted for seven runs. Klein got the first two outs in the inning but couldn’t finish it off. He gave way to Ryan Ool with runners at second and third, already having given up two runs.
Ool couldn’t get the final out either, and five runs later, Brian Napier finally struck out Mike Halligan to end the inning.
On Thursday, RPI’s Red Hawks traveled to New Paltz, N.Y., to take on the Hawks from SUNY New Paltz. With the game tied in the seventh inning, RPI made some defensive errors that led to the 7-5 loss.
Rensselaer got on the board first after a balk by SUNY pitcher Ryan Schafer allowed Mike Passante to cross the plate. They added to their lead with single runs in the second and third before New Paltz took the lead with a three-run effort in the fourth.
Down by two runs in the seventh, the Red Hawks clawed back into the game. Quinn led off the inning with a walk, and after advancing to third Adam Lasek hit a fly ball to center deep enough to allow Quinn to score. Parenteau who doubled to move Quinn to third, scored later on a single by Meron.
Defensive woes, however, cost RPI the game. Charlie Yarnold entered the game in relief in the seventh and threw a wild pitch that allowed a runner on second to move to third.
Ihnatolya then made an error on a ball hit by the next SUNY batter, prolonging the inning. On the next play, SUNY brought in the winning run on a fielder’s choice ball.
After a day off, Ithaca College welcomed the team for a doubleheader Saturday. Coach Steffen and company welcomed the outcome. RPI swept Ithaca, 15-8 and 7-0, getting two much needed wins in the process.
Offensive firepower led the Red Hawks in the first game, as they out-hit the Bombers, who managed to produce some offensive firepower of their own.
Ithaca became the first team to really figure out freshman pitcher Joe Zongol, picking up five runs (three earned) in four innings. Zongol still picked up the win.
Even though his pitching hit a few ruts last week, Steffen is very happy with their overall performance. “I feel pretty confident putting our top four pitchers against any in the league,” Steffen boasted.
RPI scored five runs in the first, and never looked back. Passante drew a leadoff walk and scored later on a wild pitch. Parenteau walked with the bases loaded, and Porter crossed the plate.
Rich Mundy singled, and drove in two runs as well. The Red Hawks chased Ithaca’s starter after just one-third of an inning, after nailing him for five runs.
Ihnatolya and Jason Pollard each contributed more to add to the Red Hawks lead later. Ihnatolya collected four hits to lead the team, crossed the place twice, and drove in three men. Pollard chipped in with three hits of his own and two RBI.
Staff ace Chris Sullivan got plenty of help from his offense in the second game, but needed none of it as he single handedly shutout the Bombers, holding them to a mere five hits in seven strong innings.
Quinn gave Sullivan the lead with his third home run of the season in the second inning. Little did he know that was all Sullivan was going to need.
“[Sullivan] came along a little slowly,” Steffen said about his ace, but acknowledges that Sullivan is now right at the level he should be entering league play. His velocity has returned, and Steffen pointed out that he has been “getting ahead of the hitters” much better than before.
The most danger Sullivan was in all day was in the bottom of the last inning when he allowed two consecutive singles with two outs.
Parenteau and Adam Lasek both added to the Red Hawks lead. Parenteau scored two runs, and Lasek drove in four from the seven hole.
To finish off the weekend, 25th-ranked RPI traveled to face 14th-ranked SUNY Cortland. The battle between the two ranked opponents was close into the seventh, but in the bottom of that inning, Cortland exploded for six runs and put the game away.
With a 5-4 lead going into that half inning, the Red Dragons chased pitcher Ian Titcomb, and Steffen made some defensive changes to move Mundy from second base to the mound.
Mundy struggled, giving up three runs; his defense, however, didn’t help him. Two of the runs he allowed were unearned due to a dropped ball by Passante, who was moved to center during the switches, and a few bad throws by his infielders.
Steffen attributed some of these defensive mistakes to the fact that the team has been playing a lot of games on the road. “Some of the errors we made were aggressive,” Steffen also added. “We weren’t tentative.”
Ool had to step in and start at the last second because the starter for RPI became sick.
Overall, Steffen said the biggest problem last week was that no one was hitting when there were runners in scoring position. “Hopefully, our big guns will come up and drive in runs when they need to.”
The Red Hawks now stand at 11-7 with one final tune-up before they open league play. Today, the Red Hawks head back to New Jersey to visit William Patterson, and then league play begins Friday when the team visits Schenectady for a doubleheader with Union.
For his efforts against Ithaca, The Liberty League Conference honored Sullivan with their Pitcher of the Week Award.
The Red Hawks have played a very hard non-league schedule, which will hopefully lead to success in league play. “[We’ve] played pretty well under pressure,” commented Steffen. “That will help us.”
