Box Score
Box Score

TROY, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) baseball team scored seven runs in its final two at bats – all with two outs – and the Red Hawks won their eighth straight game, defeating Castleton State, 9-3, in a non-league affair at Robison Field. RPI is now 9-4, while the Spartans fall to 3-7.

Trailing 3-2 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Rensselaer put two runners on board with a pair of singles before junior designated hitter Scott Robinson (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen) drove a 3-2 pitch over the right field fence for a 5-3 lead. RPI added another run in the frame, thanks to an RBI single by Sean Wilkes (Troy, NY/Catholic Central), and the Red Hawks led 6-3 after seven innings.

Rensselaer scored three runs in the eighth inning, highlighted by a two-run home run to right centerfield by senior third baseman Jim Devine (Castleton, NY/Columbia) and an RBI single by Robinson for the final margin.

Devine finished with three hits in four at bats with two runs and two runs batted in. Robinson was 2 for 4 with a run and four RBI and junior leftfielder Camden Mamigonian (Dover, NH/Dover) had two hits, including a home run to leftfield, two runs and a run batted in.

Freshman Jason Griffith (Lititz, PA/Warwich) earned the win – the first of his career – in relief. He entered the game in the seventh inning with runners on first and third with one out and the scored tied, 2-2. He allowed no runs and three hits with three strikeouts in 1.2 innings.

Freshman Tyler Erickson (Naugatuck, CT) took the loss for Castleton State, who led 2-0 in the fifth inning. He allowed four runs (3 earned) on four hits in 2.0 innings of relief to fall to 0-2. Junior leftfielder Matt Eisenhuth (Townshend, VT) and junior first baseman Ted Mills (Stockbridge, VT) both had two hits for the Spartans, who had eight hits against five RPI pitchers on the afternoon.

Rensselaer returns to action on Thursday afternoon when it hosts Western New England College in a non-league game at 4pm at Robison Field. Castleton State plays a pair of doubleheaders at North Atlantic Conference foe Husson College beginning on Saturday at noon.