Last Wednesday at Robison Field, the Red Hawks came to a rain-soaked diamond to play the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Trailblazers. Even though the rain put a damper on the game, it definitely did not affect the Red Hawks’ offense.
RPI jumped to a crushing 8-0 advantage, scoring four runs in each of the first two innings. Though the Trailblazers responded in the fourth with one run, the Red Hawks answered back with five runs at the bottom of the inning to build their lead to a commanding 13-1; however, the trouncing was not over.
In the next inning, after holding the Trailblazers scoreless in the top, the Red Hawks extended their advantage to 17-1 as a single to left field added two more runs, with senior Jim Devine and junior Tom Jebb each bringing in a run. Nonetheless, the Trailblazers added four more runs, including one in the ninth, to lessen RPI’s lead to the ending 17-5 score.
The player of the game was junior Camden Mamigonian, who was five-for-six in the game and hit his sixth home run of the season. His early efforts also helped the Red Hawks obtain their 25th win on the season to move to 25-8 overall. The Trailblazers, on the other hand, dropped to 16-12 on the season with the loss.
The No. 17 in the nation Red Hawks then moved into the weekend with the promise of tough games on Sunday against the SUNY College at Westbury Panthers and the St. Joseph’s College Bears.
The Panthers entered the game on an 11-game win streak, but would soon have it snapped. Rensselaer scored five runs in the first three innings with help from junior Andrew Krusheinyski, who was a perfect five-for-five on the day and scored three runs.
Westbury, down 5-0, answered back in the fourth inning with one run, only to have RPI knock home five runs in the fifth inning as the Red Hawks took a 10-1 lead. Although these five runs closed Rensselaer’s scoring for the game, the Panthers fought an uphill battle for the rest of the game.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Panthers crossed home for the final time in the game to narrow RPI’s lead from 10-1 to 10-2. The singleton run in the fifth also ended scoring for the rest of the game as RPI moved up to 26-8 overall and the Panthers dropped to 24-11.
Rensselaer finished the second game of its split doubleheader at St. Joseph’s with a 5-1 victory. Junior right-handed pitcher Andrew Mondo allowed one run on only four hits while blanking six for his ninth-straight win of the season.
Senior Andrew Novick pitched two innings of relief and allowed only two hits, while junior Mike Cieszko finished the game on the mound, striking out two Bears for the win.
On the offensive side, senior Sean Wilkes, junior Noah Poissant, and sophomores Josh Brooks each knocked back two runs for the Red Hawks. Wilkes had a single and a triple, with two runs scored, while Brooks had a run, an RBI, and a stolen base. Poissant had a double, crossing the plate once and dishing out a RBI.
For the Bears, sophomore Mark Cisek went two-for-three, while freshman pitcher Jason Dierkes shouldered the loss. The Red Hawks improved to 27-8 on the year, and the Bears dropped down to 18-15 overall on the season.
Following the games, freshman pitcher Dan Duval was named the Liberty League Rookie of the Week. Duval allowed only one hit in 5.2 innings of scoreless relief, keeping his opponenets to a mere .050 batting average. In the span, Duval struck out two, and allowed no walks. Duval has appeared in nine games for a total of 14.2 innings this season.
RPI will finish the regular season with three more games. Today, the Red Hawks head to Williams College to face the Ephs at 4 pm, before competing in a home-and-home series against the Skidmore College Thoroughbreds. Saturday, RPI will travel to Saratoga to meet its Liberty League rivals at noon, followed by a visit at home from Skidmore on Sunday, also beginning at noon.
