Mayday, mayday: Engineers crash and burn against Bombers

The Engineers and the Bombers faced off twice on Sunday, with the Bombers taking both games 2-1 and then 10-2. Despite the Rensselaer offense racking up eleven hits between the two games, eight just from the second, they were only able to muster three runs the entire day.

Rensselaer dropped the first game by one run. After a double from Bomber Camden Laney drove in a runner in the first inning, the game sat at 1-0 in Ithaca’s favor for much of the game. The Engineers couldn’t seem to make it out of the infield, hitting ground ball after ground ball while reaching the bases off of walks and weak hits. Eventually, the Engineers got lucky—Aidan Hicks laid down a sacrifice bunt meant to get Charlie Lapp from second to third base. Instead, the ball missed the Ithaca first baseman and went long, giving Lapp the chance to reach home at the beginning of a no-hit inning. Overall, this would be the only run Rensselaer would snag in this first game.

In the field, Matt Chotiner stood out with seven put-outs and three assists. The shortstop caught two runners stealing second, was in two double-plays, and caught three pop flys. He led the Engineers in putouts and assists with ten total, helming a solid defense despite the lack of hits. The Bombers would eventually sneak one last run in at the top of the eighth inning, when Bomber Collin Feeney got on base from a walk, proceeded to steal second and third base, and scored off of a throwing error from Lapp, the Rensselaer catcher. The final score of the game was 2-1 Ithaca.

The second game saw a strong resurgence of the Engineers’ hitting capabilities, but not their ability to score. Even with eight hits in the game, Rensselaer left a total of ten runners on base throughout the game, unable to pick up any extra bases. The Engineers had zero stolen bases in the game, although second baseman Cam Hawley was picked off at second in the bottom of the fourth inning. Ithaca would take this game 10-2 from a steady flow of runs, the most of which came from the fourth inning. Every single one of the four runs in that inning was unearned, being scored off of an error from Hicks, the center fielder. The Engineers would drop this game 10-2.

With both the weekend and their impressive sweep of Hobart College on Monday, Rensselaer currently sits at an 18-10 record for the season, with a 6-4 record in the Liberty League. Their next game will be at home against Vassar College on Friday, April 18. Click here for the first game box score and here for the second game box score.