The Stevens baseball team hosted the New Jersey City University Gothic Knights (NJCU) on Friday, February 21 for their fourth consecutive home game. Leading up to this game, Stevens won two in a row after dropping the first game of the season to Rutgers-Newark. This game marked the season opener for NJCU.
On the hill for Stevens was senior right-hander Michael Frissora. Frissora struck out a career-high of nine players over 6.0 innings while giving up two unearned runs and walking two. He also limited NJCU to only two hits.
The Gothic Knights started the scoring in the fourth when two men reached base. After a failed pickoff attempt by Frissora, the two players on base moved into scoring position. With two outs, Frissora induced a pop-up, which first baseman Gannon Kenney-McGowan could not catch. This resulted in both runners advancing home, allowing NJCU to grab a 2-0 lead.
Stevens responded in the bottom of the sixth. A.J. Falconite and Brett Mendez hit singles, placing runners on the corners with no one out. Tom James grounded into a double play, but a run scored, making the score 2-1.
After the sixth, the Ducks handed the ball to the bullpen. Sophomore Hunter Counton entered from the pen in the seventh and struck out the side while allowing only one hit. In the bottom half of the seventh, the tides began to change. Sophomore Ryan Finegan drove the first pitch off his bat over the fence, tying the game at two.
In the eighth, junior Alex Smith replaced Counton out of the bullpen. Smith made quick work of the NJCU hitters, mowing down two. Nate Zuckerman led off for the Ducks in the eighth by getting a hit. After a wild pitch, Zuckerman moved into scoring position. Following the wild pitch, Mendez stepped up to the plate and laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, allowing Zuckerman to advance to third. NJCU then buckled down and got another out before Tom James stepped up to the plate. With the count 2-2, James laced a single up the middle, notched his second RBI of the game and gave the Ducks their first lead of the game. In the end, it was all they needed to preserve the win.
Smith returned to the hill in the ninth. He continued where he left off in the eighth by striking out two more before getting the final batter to ground out. This gave the Ducks their third win in a row.
Since then, the baseball team has lost their last two games, but they are now embarking on their first road trip of the year as they head to Massachusetts this upcoming weekend. On Saturday, the Ducks will take on No. 14 University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston). The following day, they will play against Endicott College before returning home. A win against UMass Boston would be the first win for Stevens away from home, and would continue to build the confidence of the team this season.
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