Box Score

TROY, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) baseball team scored seven runs in the fifth inning to turn a 2-1 deficit into an 8-2 lead and the Red Hawks held off Castleton State, 10-5, in a non-league game at Robison Field. RPI, which was led by sophomore outfielder Dan Valentine’s (Goshen, CT/Avon Old Farms) 4 for 4 afternoon, has now won six straight games to improve to 11-6. Castleton State falls to 6-9.

Rensselaer took a 1-0 lead in the third inning, but the visiting Spartans came right back to grab a 2-1 lead on a two-run home run by junior third baseman Phil Puleo (Utica, NY/Proctor) in the top of the fourth inning.

The Red Hawks recaptured the lead for good with its seven-run fifth inning. RPI collected seven runs on seven hits and Castleton committed one error. Among Rensselaer’s hits were two singles by Valentine, who also scored once and drove in two in the stanza, and a double by Stevan Slusher (Penns Grove, NJ/Pedricktown).

The Spartans scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning on a two-run single by sophomore outfielder Chris Ragis (South Burlington, VT/South Burlington) and they added a single run in the seventh to make the score 8-5. Rensselaer scored twice in the eighth inning for the final margin.

Valentine, who played both rightfield and centerfield, had three singles and a double with a run, two runs batted in and a stolen base. Three others had multiple hits, including senior first baseman Joe Ihnatolya (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa), who had two singles, two runs scored and an RBI.

Junior starter Luke Calzone (Bethel, CT/Bethel) earned the win to improve to 4-0. In five innings of work, he allowed one earned run on three hits with four strikeouts. Ian Titcomb (Norwood, MA/Xaverian Brothers) pitched the final 1.1 innings for the save.

For Castleton, junior starter Adam Kuhn (Bellows Falls, VT/Bellows Falls Union) pitched four innings, allowing seven runs (4 earned) with one strikeout in suffering the loss. Offensively, Puleo was 3 for 4 with a double and home run, two runs and two RBI.

RPI returns to action with four Liberty League games against St. Lawrence in Canton this weekend. Castleton State is back on the field on Friday at Colby-Sawyer (3:30pm).