Stevens Receives Solid Pitching from Anunziatta and Picerno as Baseball Splits Doubleheader against Skidmore
HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 2, 2008) – Freshman infielder Mike Pagliaro produced a pair of hits and scored two runs on the day as the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team went 1-1 in a doubleheader against Skidmore College in Hoboken, N.Y. The Ducks suffered a 10-5 loss in Game 1, but came back strong to earn a 7-3 win over the Thoroughbreds.
With two outs in the top of the first of Game 1, senior infielder Adam Brown (Morrisonville, N.Y.) reached second on a double to left center. The ensuing batter, senior outfielder Greg Carlow (Mystic, Conn.), drove in Brown as he doubled to right field. Sophomore infielder Matt Pasani (Winchester, Mass.) singled to left field as Carlow scored from second base. The inning ended as junior catcher Justin Morelli (East Setauket, N.Y.) grounded out to the third baseman.
In the bottom of the third, sophomore outfielder Anthony Andrews reached first as he singled through the left side of the infield. Sophomore infielder Eddie Daniele laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Andrews to second base. Sophomore outfielder Mark Rasulo singled to left field as Andrews crossed the plate scoring the first run of the game for the Ducks. The inning ended as Rasulo was thrown out trying to steal second.
As the score read 3-1 heading into the top of the fifth, Skidmore added a pair of runs to the board off of RBI from Carlow and Pasani to increase the lead to 5-1. In the bottom half of the inning, Stevens responded after two back-to-back walks put a pair of runners on first and second for the Ducks. After a wild pitch moved the men up 90 feet, Daniele grounded out to short, but drove in Pagliaro from third. With Andrews now on third, Rasulo was next to hit as he belted the ball to the first basemen who could not field it cleanly. This kept the inning alive and allowed Andrews to cross the plate, having scored the third run of the game for Stevens. A strikeout from senior catcher David Katusa closed out the inning.
From then on it was the Thoroughbreds all the way as they outscored the Ducks 5-2 in the remaining four innings. Junior pitcher Ed Reilly (Tenafly, N.J.) was credited with the win having struck out seven batters in seven innings pitched and allowing only two earned runs and four hits. Senior pitcher Chris Burgess was tagged with the loss. He threw for four and one-third innings on seven hits and three earned runs.
The Ducks were led by Andrews, who went 1-for-2 with two runs scored. Rasulo added a double and an RBI, while Daniele and Caruso each finished with one RBI.
For the Thoroughbreds, sophomore infielder Dave Bershad (Merion, Pa.) went 2-for-6 and scored a pair of runs. Brown finished the game with a pair of doubles on five at-bats and crossed the plate twice for Skidmore. Carlow batted .500 (2-for-4) with three RBI and three runs scored. Pasani finished with two RBI and a run scored as he went 2-for-3 in Game 1.
Freshman pitcher Dan Anunziatta was solid on the mound for the Ducks in Game 2 as he pitched four innings of seven hit ball, having allowed only a pair of runs.
Stevens came out firing early as they went ahead 2-0 through the first three innings. The Ducks earned their runs in the bottom of the first as the game was started with Rasulo getting beaned by a pitch. He put himself into scoring position after he stole second. Freshman infielder Matt Glassman drove in Rasulo as he singled to center field. A hit-and-run was on, as freshman infielder Ken Meerendonk grounded to the second baseman with the only play being to first for the sure out. Glassman reached third on a wild pitch. Senior infielder John Frustaci grounded out to the right side of the infield allowing Glassman to score from third. The inning ended after freshman catcher Dennis Ackermann walked then was thrown out trying to steal second.
The Thoroughbreds knotted the game at 2-all in the top of the fourth off two RBI, one from Reilly, the other from Goldman. However in the bottom half of the inning the Ducks responded with two more runs of their own. The inning started as Meerendonk reached base on a walk. A wild pitch moved him to second. Frustaci grounded out to the second baseman as Meerendonk moved up 90 feet. Ackermann doubled to left field scoring Meerendonk. A balk from sophomore pitcher Derek Stork (Penn Yan, N.Y.) allowed Ackermann to take third, as a single up the middle from Pagliaro scored the second run of the inning. Katusa ended the inning as he flied out to the second baseman.
In the final three innings, senior pitcher Scott Picerno came in to earn the three-inning save as he gave up just two hits and one run. Stevens was able to increase its lead to four off of RBI from Rasulo and Daniele. Ackermann scored the seventh run for the Ducks as he crossed the plate on a wild pitch from freshman pitcher Nick Laracuente (Tenafly, N.Y.).
Stork was credited with the loss having pitched four innings of three-hit four-run baseball. Sophomore infielder Jake Mendell (St. George, Vt.) went 2-for-4 with one run scored. Freshman catcher Logan Arena (Upton, Mass.) produced two hits on three at-bats and scored once for Skidmore. Reilly finished Game 2 having gone 2-for-3 with an RBI.
The Ducks were led by Rasulo and Glassman who each went 1-for-3 with one run scored and an RBI. Ackermann finished the game with one hit on one at-bat and scored a pair of runs for Stevens.
With the loss, Skidmore moves to 1-1 on the season. The Ducks improve to 2-4 on the year.
Stevens will return to action on Wednesday when they host No. 6 Eastern Connecticut State University at 3 p.m.
