HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Union College baseball team dropped a pair of one-run games to Stevens Institute of Technology on Sunday afternoon at Dobbelaar Baseball Field, falling to the host Ducks by the scores of 9-8 and 7-6.
 
Game 1: Stevens 9, Union 8
 
Union dug out of an eight-run hole after just two innings to tie the score in game one, but Stevens plated the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh and held on for a 9-8 win to start the day.
 
Senior Cooper Ames led the comeback effort with two hits and four runs batted in, while classmate Andrew Keaveney had a game-high three hits while scoring once and driving in one. Fellow senior Caleb Miller had two hits and scored three runs for the visitors as well.
 
The game did not start well for the Garnet Chargers, as Stevens scored three times in the first and five times in the second off first-year Alex Casey to take an eight-run lead. But Union slowly crept back into the game, scoring in four of the next five innings while getting 4.1 hitless innings of relief from junior Garrick Godin to tie the game at eight.
 
Union put up three runs in the third to start the rally, getting run-scoring singles by Keaveney and Ames and adding a third thanks to a Stevens error. Ames plated two more with a two-out single in the fourth and two more runs crossed the plate in the sixth after another Stevens error and an Ames sacrifice fly. The visitors got back to even in the seventh when first-year Jack McKillop plated junior Benjamin Raphael with a sac fly.
 
The tie did not last long, however, as Garret Wolf's two-out single in the bottom of the seventh put the Ducks back in front. Union went down in order in the final two innings to suffer the defeat.
 
First-year Lucas Miller (0-1) took the loss for Union, allowing one run on one hit in the seventh.
 
Game 2: Stevens 7, Union 6
 
Union scored six of the first seven runs of game two to jump out to a five-run edge, but one big inning was all Stevens needed to pull off a comeback, plating six runs in the sixth to finish off the sweep.
 
Keaveney had three hits for the second straight game and also drove in a team-best two runs, while McKillop got on base three times, scored twice and drove in one at the top of the lineup for Union.
 
The first three half-innings all saw one run apiece cross the plate, with a Stevens error and a McKillop RBI groundout putting the visitors up 2-1 after two frames. The Garnet Chargers added three more to their ledger in the fourth thanks to a bases-loaded walk to sophomore Dylan Swarts, a Keaveney RBI single and a hit batter.
 
Union tacked on another run in the sixth when Swarts scored on a passed ball, but Stevens came back with six runs off a pair of Garnet Charger relievers in the bottom half to take the lead back. The big hits of the frame were a two-run single by Tyler Wilke and a two-out bases-clearing triple by E.J. Balewitz Jr.
 
The visitors got the tying run into scoring position with two outs in both the eighth and ninth innings, but could not find the game-tying hit on either occasion.
 
Senior Alex Oppenheimer got the start for Union and allowed one run on four hits over five innings, but did not factor in the decision. Jack Klein (0-1) allowed two runs on one hit in 0.2 innings to take the loss.
 
Union will return to the diamond on Tuesday with a Tuesday matchup at SUNY Oneonta starting at 3 p.m.