Last Tuesday, the American Baseball Coaches Association and the Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division-III Poll named the RPI baseball team 10th in the nation. The next day, true to their recognition, the Red Hawks dominated the Clarkson University Golden Knights in a doubleheader.
In game one, the Red Hawks started slow, hitless in the first three innings, while the Golden Knights took a 1-0 lead in the fourth. However, the Clarkson lead was short-lived, as sophomore Nic Marchese hit an opposite-field home run in the bottom of the fourth to give RPI a 2-1 lead it would never relinquish. In the following inning, the Red Hawks built their lead to 5-1 and then added two more runs in the sixth, extending it to 7-1.
Clarkson could not complete a comeback in the seventh with only two runs, and closed the game with a 7-3 loss. Notably, RPI junior Scott Robinson had two home runs on the game, which led to RPI’s 16th straight win.
Although the Red Hawks were electrified after the first game of the doubleheader, the second game was almost too close. As in the first game, Clarkson jumped out to an early lead with two runs in the third. However, RPI answered with two runs of its own on three straight hits in the fourth. After this, the pace quieted down for a scoreless fifth. In the sixth, senior Jim Devine drove a pitch over the fence to seal the game, and the Red Hawks edged the Golden Knights 3-2.
With the two wins on the day, the Red Hawks extended their win streak to 17, tying a school record and confirming their position as 10th in the nation.
The following doubleheader on Saturday against the University of Rochester Yellowjackets, ranked 17th in the nation going into the game, did not fare as well as the earlier games against Clarkson.
In the first game, the Yellowjackets shut out the Red Hawks 4-0, snapping RPI’s win streak at 17. However, the second game was a different story, as both teams played a tough game all the way to the ninth.
The game began relatively quietly until the third, when the Yellowjackets drew first blood to take a 1-0 lead. However, a solo RPI home run in the fourth tied up the game. The Yellowjackets answered back with three runs in the fifth, including two unearned runs in the bottom of the inning. The Red Hawks were able to cut the deficit to 4-3, but could not tie Rochester. In the sixth inning, the Red Hawks took their first lead of the game, 6-4, after plating three runs off of a Marchese triple. In the ninth, however, the Red Hawks sealed the game with five hits, ending with an 11-5 win. Rochester fell to 19-6 on the season and 11-3 in the Liberty League with the loss.
Saturday was not the only doubleheader that the Red Hawks played against the Yellowjackets during the weekend. On Sunday, RPI once again squared off against Rochester. In the bottom of the ninth of the first game, the Red Hawks had trailed the Yellowjackets 4-2, but eventually rallied to take the lead with three runs off four hits in a row for the tough win. In the second game, Rochester jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning. RPI scored an unearned run in the third inning, but was unable to tie the game.
The Yellowjackets plated two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to extend their lead to 6-2. But come the seventh inning, momentum shifted to the Red Hawks, who were able to gain back three to close the lead to 6-5. Nevertheless, the Red Hawks saw victory slowly slide away as Rochester added two more runs in top of the ninth.
The game seemed all but lost; however, once again the Red Hawks stunned the opposing team with another comeback in the bottom of the ninth. After a single, the Rochester pitcher walked three straight to bring the score to 8-6. Then, with a sacrifice fly, RPI plated another score, though the final nail in the coffin was a single followed by a walk, allowing the Red Hawks to win their second close game of the day. With the sweep, the Red Hawks edged to 21-5 on the season and 14-1 in the Liberty League. Rochester, on the other hand, dropped to 19-8 on the season and 11-5 in the League.
The Red Hawks return to Robison Field today in a game against Montclair State University beginning at 4 pm. RPI will also compete in a home-and-home series against Route 7 rival Union College in a pair of doubleheaders this Friday and Saturday. The first doubleheader will be played in Schenectady, N.Y., starting at 1 pm, before the team returns to Troy for the second series at noon.
