The baseball team finished this past weekend’s four-game series against the St. Lawrence University Saints with a complete sweep, extending the defending Liberty League champion Red Hawks’ winning streak to seven. In the two double-headers against the Saints, RPI took the games by marks of 8-4 and 10-6 on Saturday, and 7-1 and 25-2 on Sunday. Rensselaer finished with an overall record of 8-4 and 4-0 in the Liberty League, while the Saints fell to 4-7 overall and 0-4 in the conference.
“The last weekend’s games really showed that we have the potential to be a very successful ball club,” explained junior Andrew Krushelnyski, who was named the Liberty League Performer of the Week. “The sweep sent a message to the other Liberty League teams that we won’t be an easy group to beat.”
In its first game of the weekend, the baseball team came back from the three-run deficit in the fourth and fifth innings before dominating the game in the sixth. Sophomore right fielder Nic Marchese led the team in scoring, going five-for-seven with a home run and four RBIs.
The Saints came out swinging, taking a three-run lead thanks to junior Ryan Duff and freshman Robert Carman who drove runners home. RPI cut the score and came within a run by the end of the fourth, as sophomore Mike Cieszko’s double brought in junior left fielder Camden Mamigonian, and junior Scott Robinson’s RBI single sent home senior shortstop Jim Devine.
Both teams tallied a single run in the fifth inning before the Red Hawks capitalized on a scoreless sixth inning by the Saints to knock in five runs and take the lead. Hits by juniors Tom Jebb and Patrick Reardon, as well as Cieszko and a walk to senior Sean Wilkes brought in two runs, soon followed by a three-run bomb by Marchese.
Senior pitcher Andrew Opperman allowed only four runs on eight hits with four strike-outs and one walk in six innings of play. His counterpart, Saints senior Steve Bodnar, allowed eight runs on 11 hits.
Heading into their second game of the day, the Red Hawks quickly took control of the match, racking up a 7-0 lead through the first seven innings play.
The Saints responded with four runs in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh. However, RPI was able to stone their offense, allowing no base runners in the final two innings of play. Adding one more run in the sixth, and two more in the seventh, Rensselaer was able to maintain the lead for the 10-6 victory.
In over six innings of play, Red Hawks junior pitcher Andrew Mondo allowed four runs on four hits, and had seven strike-outs. St. Lawrence sophomore Chris Cooke allowed eight runs on 10 hits in six innings, with six strike-outs and no walks.
Heading into Sunday’s double-header with two more wins under their belt, the Red Hawks were prepared to make a clean sweep of the Saints for the weekend. In the first match of the day, RPI saw two-run homers by Krushelnyski and Cieszko in the first and second innings, respectively, to take the early 4-0 lead after two innings of play.
The Saints tallied their only run of the day off an RBI single by freshman Bryan Brennan at the bottom of the third. Rensselaer added two more runs at the top of the fifth as Marchese brought home Wilkes on a fielder’s choice, and Mamigonian’s sacrifice fly resulted in Marchese crossing home plate.
For Rensselaer, junior pitcher John Dreimiller allowed a single run on four hits and had six strike-outs and two walks in six innings of play. Saints junior Sam Voss allowed seven runs on 13 hits. Leading the way for the Red Hawks was Krushelnyski, who went three-for-four with a double, home run, and two RBIs, as well as Cieszko, who went two-for-three with a home run and two RBIs.
The Red Hawks finished the weekend with a bang, completely overpowering the Saints in the final game of the series. Guided by 25 runs on 25 hits—including 12 players with at least one hit and seven players with multiple hits—Rensselaer took the last game by a blow-out tally of 25-2.
After scoring two runs in the second inning, the Red Hawks brought the bats out in the third, notching 13 runs on the scoreboard, including nine that came on two outs.
Rensselaer added two runs in the fifth, one in the seventh, four in the eighth, and two in the ninth to finish the game with a grand-total of 25 runs.
Also earning honors this weekend was Jebb, who was named the Liberty League Rookie of the Week after recording a .407 batting average and posting two doubles, three runs, and three RBIs. “It was a true honor to get this award in my first year,” said Jebb. “But it is especially an honor to be able to play shortstop for the Red Hawks.”
The Red Hawks return to the mound this Wednesday at Robison Field against Castleton State College at 4 pm, followed by another home game against Western New England College on Thursday, also at 4 pm.
“I can see us hopefully taking the same confident mentality that we can take any tough game that comes our way this weekend,” explained Krushelynski.
