The Rensselaer baseball team needed a big week to help them get into the league tournament, and the Red Hawks responded with an outstanding 6-0 week, including a 29-7 thrashing of Union College, and two doubleheader sweeps against league opponents St. Lawrence and Clarkson.
Dylan Suprenant picked up the win for the Red Hawks, relieving starter Luke Calzone after 2.1 innings. Dan Quinn bashed two home runs to tie the school record, and went 3-for-4 overall. Steve Slusher had a perfect 4-for-4 day, and knocked in five runs. Adam Lasek also had five RBI.
The momentum carried into the weekend’s games for RPI. On Friday, the Red Hawks hosted St. Lawrence and followed the old adage of “sweep at home,” as Coach Karl Steffen put it. A solid pitching performance by senior Chris Sullivan, who picked up his sixth win in a row, and some fireworks by Joe Ihnatolya and Quinn lifted RPI in game one, 7-3.
Sullivan pitched the complete game, allowing only one earned run on a home run in the sixth. The other two SLU runs came after an error by Ihnatolya in the fifth. Sullivan has pitched lights out in his last few outings, and the Liberty League honored him for the third time in the last four weeks with their Pitcher of the Week award.
Quinn hit a solo home run in the first inning, his 27th as a Red Hawk, breaking the previous school record held by Jim Williard ’96. He was named co-Performer of the Week by the Liberty League for his mammoth efforts. His line for the week contained four home runs, nine runs scored, and 11 runs batted in. Ihnatolya also homered and added five RBIs on the game.
In game two, the younger side of RPI’s rotation also prevailed. Joe Zongol earned his fourth win of the season, scattering five hits and two runs over 6.1 innings. After consecutive walks in the seventh, he was relieved by Ian Titcomb, who got out of the jam.
The Red Hawk offense continued to churn out hits, collecting 14 as a team. Adam Lasek got RPI on the board with a two run home run after a Quinn leadoff walk. Quinn hurt the Saints later in the game by singling and knocking in two more runs.
The Red Hawks’ bats have come alive recently after a lull a few weeks ago. Steffen called that period “frustrating for all of us,” but when asked if he expected to break the silence with offense like this he responded with, “based on what we did in Florida, yes.”
The Red Hawks also took both games from Clarkson on Sunday, including an exciting come from behind victory in the nightcap.
Down 5-3 in the eighth, RPI battled back to tie it after RBI singles from Quinn and Lasek. With Ryan Devito on third, Lasek on second, and Nick Parenteau on first, Stevan Slusher knocked a pitch by Clarkson pitcher John Smith over the fence for a grand slam. Chris Sullivan pitched a perfect ninth to save the game for Charlie Yarnold.
Earlier in the day, RPI took advantage of the Golden Knights’ seven errors to pick up ten unearned runs and win 15-5. RPI wasn’t perfect on defense either, committing four errors which led to two unearned runs, but Tim Klein pitched seven strong innings to hold the lead for the Red Hawks.
To close out the first game, RPI turned a triple play. Klein caught the comeback liner, tossed it to second to get two, and Lasek turned it to Quinn to complete the play.
The offense bailed out the team Monday afternoon, jumping out to an 8-0 lead and lifting the Red Hawks 19-8 for their eighth straight victory. Sophomore catcher Jason Pollard crossed the plate a school record six times for the Red Hawks.
Now the task at hand is getting ready for the postseason. “Right now, I like where we’re at,” Steffen said. RPI (22-12, 8-2 LL) has four more regular season games. If they sweep this weekend against Rochester, they will host the Liberty League tournament here in Troy.
