RPI Downs Brewer Baseball Twice Sunday

POUGHKEEPSIE – The Vassar College baseball team was unable to help its Liberty League Tournament chances on Sunday afternoon, dropping both ends of a conference doubleheader to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in action from Prentiss Field. Vassar fell in game one 10-1 before dropping the second contest of the day 6-0 before the game was called after the top of the sixth. With the two losses, Vassar moved into fifth place, a game behind RPI for the fourth and final spot in the Tournament.

Game 1 – RPI 10, Vassar 1
The Brewers were unable to hold the potent RPI offense off the board in game one, as the Engineers scored in three runs in the second and sixth innings, while posting two runs in the third and fifth to pull away from Vassar. That was plenty of run support for RPI starter Brendan McNerney, who tossed a complete game, allowing four hits and striking out five batters.

RPI got on the board in the second inning to open the game’s scoring, as the Engineers benefitted from three Vassar errors in the frame to plate three unearned runs. The Engineers added two more in the third, as Thomas Desmond and Sam Lawrence posted RBI singles.

The Brewers got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Matt Hernandez scored Nick Johnson on a sacrifice fly to make the score 5-1. That was as close as the Brewers would get though, as RPI pulled away for the win.

Johnson was 2-for-3 with his 16th double of the season, while senior Dakota Sagnelli and freshman Jake Doyle each had singles for the Brewers. Adam Erkis went five innings for the Brewers, allowing nine hits and four earned runs while striking out four batters. Sophomore Derek Demild tossed 1.1 innings in relief, surrendering just one hit.

Desmond finished 4-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored, and Tyler Stephens was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Lawrence also had two hits and two RBI, and Weston Hawkins was 2-for-4 with two runs.

Rain and wet conditions forced the end of the second game of the day, as RPI was able to snag a 6-0 victory after posting a run in the third, two in the fourth and three in the top of the sixth before the game was called.

RPI struck first with a sacrifice fly in the top of the third, as Hawkins plated Matt Lawrence on a sacrifice fly. Vassar had a chance to get on the board in the bottom of the second before RPI took the lead, but stranded three runners after Adam Kalish was able to work out of a jam for the Engineers.

Matt Lawrence and Justin Valente would each pick up RBI in the top of the fourth to make the score 3-0. Vassar nearly trimmed into the RPI advantage in the fourth inning, but Eric Strickland was gunned down at the plate trying to score a fly ball by Sagnelli. Three more runs in the sixth made the score 6-0, and before the Engineers could take the field, the umpires called the coaches together and deemed the field conditions unplayable.

Sophomore Bobby Kinne was 2-for-3 for the Brewers, and Strickland and Cory Wuenschell each posted doubles in in the loss. Vassar’s Trent Berg went five innings on the mound, allowing no earned runs and five hits while striking out five.

Sam Lawrence posted three hits in game two for RPI, while Matt Lawrence and Stephens each had a pair of knocks in the win.