TROY, N.Y. – Senior first baseman Ken Carroll tied a school record with two home runs in game one to lead the 10th-ranked Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) baseball team to a doubleheader sweep of Union College Saturday afternoon at Robison Field. The Red Hawks, who won by scores of 10-6 and 12-2, improve to 23-4 overall, including 12-2 the Liberty League. The Dutchmen fall to 3-16, with a 1-14 mark in league play.
Game one remained close until the fourth inning when the Red Hawks scored seven times. With the score 3-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth, RPI sent 11 men to the plate, scoring seven times on six hits. Only one of the runs was charged to Dutchmen starting pitcher
Matt Sheehan (Lexington, Mass.) who was removed with two outs in the inning. He finished the day allowing seven runs (three earned) on seven hits over 3.2 innings of work.
Scott Carroll (Scituate, Mass.) sparked a three-run Union fifth to draw the visitors to within four, by singling with one out in the inning.
Zach Tillo (Lancaster, Mass.) followed with a double before
Paul Mene (Falls Church, Va.) drove in a pair with a single.
Dane Flavin (Schenectady, N.Y.) finished off the scoring with an RBI double.
Senior Joe Zongol picked up the victory on the hill for RPI, surrendering six runs (four earned) on 10 hits while striking out five in 5.0 innings. Junior right-hander Andrew Novick earned his first save of the year, throwing two innings of one-hit ball after entering the game with two on and none out in the sixth.
Five different Red Hawks recorded at least two hits, including Carroll who went 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI, and Jim Devine, who finished 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI.
Game two saw Rensselaer starter Tim Klein deliver a strong outing, allowing just two ninth-inning runs and at one point had retired 17 batters in a row. He pitched a complete game, giving up the two runs on five hits and a walk while striking out six.
The Red Hawks scored two in the first three innings before putting up three in each of the sixth and seventh, and four in the eighth. Carroll hit a two-run home run in the three-run sixth and drove in all three RPI runs in the seventh with a three-run shot. He finished the game 3-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored and five RBI.
Union's
Brian McLaughlin (Norwood, N.J.) took the loss, surrendering five runs on 13 hits over six innings of work. He struck out two and did not walk a batter. The Dutchmen were led offensively by Flavin, who went 2-for-3 with a run, and Mene, who went 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
The two teams will meet again tomorrow in a noon doubleheader at Joe Bruno Stadium. The games feature free admission; gates open at 11am.
