Following the baseball team’s spectacular weekend against the University of Rochester Yellowjackets, RPI hosted the Montclair State University Red Hawks on Wednesday. This game, however, did not see RPI complete a late-inning comeback. In the first inning, both Red Hawk teams traded runs, but in the second, Montclair broke the tie with two runs to gain a 3-1 advantage. Then, in the fifth and sixth innings, Montclair built its lead with a run in each inning. However, RPI was able to answer before the final inning with one run in the bottom of the eighth. By the ninth, it looked like a comeback was in the wings. Sophomore right fielder Nic Marchese started RPI in the bottom of the ninth with a single into the left field, allowing RPI to plate two runs and close the gap to 6-4. However, even with Marchese’s effort, RPI was unable to complete its comeback against the visiting Red Hawks.
Although the No. 10 baseball team shouldered a tough loss against Montclair, the RPI Red Hawks came back in Saturday’s doubleheader against the Union College Dutchmen, which saw Rensselaer dominate in both games. The Dutchmen started off the first game with a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but RPI answered with two runs in the top of the third to tie the game.
The scoring remained static throughout the game until the fifth inning, when RPI had eight runs, including a two-run double from senior outfielder Sean Wilkes. Wilkes would finish the day with seven RBIs and a grand slam home run. The game was finally called after the seventh when RPI held a commanding 10-3 lead.
The second game of the day was the same as the first; although Union tallied two runs in the bottom of the first, RPI came back and plated five runs in the top of the second inning with help from Wilkes’s grand slam. The Red Hawks added six more runs in the top of the third to take an 11-3 advantage by the end of the frame, including a two-run hit from junior Scott Robinson and a two-run homer from senior Jim Devine over the right fence. Junior Noah Poissant knocked his first home run of the year at the top of the eighth before RPI added one more run in the ninth to take a 15-5 lead. RPI finished the day with two more wins in the Liberty League, advancing to 16-1 and 23-7 on the season. After sweeping the Dutchmen, the Red Hawks were eager to do it again in the following day’s doubleheader.
However, the Red Hawks may have been a bit too confident after sweeping the first series as they faced the Dutchmen again. In the first game, the Dutchmen drew first blood by jumping to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first due to Rensselaer blunders. However, RPI easily recovered two runs in the third, three more in the fourth, and a single run in the sixth inning to take a 6-4 edge. By the sixth, Union saw another game slipping away, but after a few serious RPI errors, the Dutchmen smoothly regained the lead with a five-run inning to put them on top, 9-6. Wilkes was able to bring RPI within two in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single, but the Red Hawks were unable to cut the deficit and fell 9-8 to the Dutchmen.
After the loss, RPI came back with its eyes set on revenge in the second game. Five Red Hawks crossed the plate in the bottom of the first as five straight hitters found the ball. Nevertheless, the Dutchmen feebly answered in the top of the second with one run, though RPI drove in four runs in the bottom of the inning to take a commanding 9-1 lead.
Three more runs were added in the fifth, a lone run in the sixth, and a dominating five runs in the eighth saw the Red Hawks put up an unconquerable 19-3 lead. However, the Dutchmen in the ninth added two more face-saving runs to reduce the deficit to 14.
Highlighting the afternoon were junior catcher Patrick Reardon’s fifth home run of the year and junior Camden Mamigonian’s three-run homer, both in the fifth inning. Starting for the Red Hawks was pitcher Andrew Novick, who earned the complete game win, allowing five runs on 13 hits over 9.0 innings of play. In addition, Novick struck out five and walked two.
RPI split the day, moving up to 24-8 for the season and 17-2 in the Liberty League, while the Dutchmen moved to 6-16 overall and 3-11 in the League. The Red Hawks return to the diamond on Wednesday when they host the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Trailblazers in a non-conference game that begins at 4 pm, followed by a game at SUNY College at Old Westbury on Sunday at 2 pm.
