AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Senior Vaibhav Desai threw a complete game and drove in a run at the plate to lead the Becker College baseball team to a 6-3 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Instistute (RPI) on Tuesday at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex. With the win, the Hawks improve to 3-3, while the Engineers drop to 3-7.

Desai (Waltham, MA/Waltham) allowed three runs (1 earned) on five hits in 9.0 innings. He struck out three and did not walk a batter. RPI freshman starter Erick Zecha (Keene, NH/Keene) went 5.0 innings, surrendering six runs (5 earned) on six hits. He had five strikeouts with no walks.

Becker took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third, beginning with an RBI-single by Desai. Junior Christopher Testa (Providence, RI/LaSalle) followed with a sacrifice fly to right, bringing home sophomore Daniel Diaz (Teaneck, NJ/St. Mary).

RPI stole a run in the top of the fourth, when junior Weston Hawkins (Fleetwood, PA/Fleetwood) stole home, before coming around to score on an errant throw down the line.

A fielder's choice off the bat of senior Justin Valente (West Palm Beach, FL/Saint Andrews) tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth.

The Hawks put together a four-run sixth inning, chasing Zecha from the hill. A wild pitch with the bases loaded brought the first run in, before freshman Michael Bianco (Manorville, NY/Eastport-South Manor) drove in a pair with a single to center.

Senior T.J. Semplowski (Oceanport, NJ/Shore) capped the rally with an RBI-double to left, but was cut down trying to stretch the hit into a triple.

Rensselaer got a single run back in the top of the seventh, but could not solve Desai in the final two stanzas, ending its three-game winning streak.

The Engineers are back in action tomorrow afternoon, when they take on Knox College (12:45pm). Becker plays Minnesota-Morris tomorrow (12:30pm).