Box Score
TROY, N.Y. – Sophomore Dan Valentine’s (Goshen, CT/Avon Old Farms) extra inning single scored pinch runner Bob Murphy (Mechanicville, NY/Mechanicville) to give the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) baseball team a 6-5 win over Union College in the first game of a scheduled Liberty League doubleheader. The second game was postponed due to inclement weather.
Valentine’s single, a drive over the leftfielder’s head with one out, improved Rensselaer’s record to 20-8 overall and 9-4 in the Liberty League. Union, which scored four runs in the sixth inning to force extra innings, falls to 7-17 and 6-11.
The Red Hawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, thanks to a run-scoring double down the leftfield line by senior Rich Mundy (Norwood, NY/Norwood-Norfolk) and a two-run single by classmate Joe Ihnatolya (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa).
Union got one run back in the top of the third inning without the benefit of a hit but RPI answered in their half on an RBI single by Mundy. The Red Hawks made it 5-1 when Valentine scored on a bunt single by Michael Passante (Highland, NY/Highland) in the bottom of the fourth inning.
The Dutchmen, who were held hitless through the first five innings by Rensselaer starter Tim Klein (Westwood, NJ/St. Joseph Regional), got five straight hits to begin the sixth to tie the game at 5-5. The key blow was a two-run home run to right field by senior Jeff Viamari (Longmeadow, MA/Tabor Academy). Kyle Murphy (Plymouth, MA/Philips Academy) and Josh McKelligan (Canton, MA/Salisbury) both chipped in with RBI doubles in the stanza.
Senior Charles Yarnold (Budd Lake, NJ/Mount Olive), who relieved Klein in the sixth inning, earned the win for Rensselaer. He allowed no runs and four hits with four strikeouts in three innings to improve to 4-1. Offensively, Mundy finished with a game-high three hits, including a pair of doubles, a run and two RBI. He also stole a base.
For Union, Murphy and senior Adam Chused (Concord, MA/Concord-Carlisle) both went 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI. Sophomore Kevin McCormick (Utica, NY/Utica), who pitched 2.1 innings of relief, suffered the loss. He is now 1-5.
