WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) baseball team split a pair of one-run games against Fitchburg State University on Thursday afternoon at Chain of Lakes Stadium. With the in split, the Engineers are now 5-8 on the season, while the Falcons are now 4-6.

In game one, Fitchburg State came back from a 4-2 sixth-inning deficit to win in the bottom of the ninth on an RPI throwing error.

The Engineers got off to a good start, scoring two runs in the top of the first. After a Wes Hawkins bunt was thrown away bot the Falcons, Sam Lawrence drove in the second run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to center.

An RBI-double by Nathan Littman in the bottom of the first made it a 2-1 game after one.

Jason Ramos ripped a 3-1 pitch through the left side of the infield to give RPI a 3-1 lead in the top of the third. Fitchburg had the answer, getting the run back in the bottom half, when Andrew Currie stole third and came home on a wild pitch.

Christian Spagnuola hit into a double-play in the top of the sixth, but Ethann Meister came home on the play to put the Engineers back up by two (4-2).

Fitchburg got one run back in the sixth, before tying the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh on another RBI-double from Littman.

After a scoreless eighth, the Falcons walked off victorious, thanks to a pair of RPI errors.

The Falcons took a quick 6-0 lead in the nightcap, as the Engineers once again struggled defensively. They scored three runs in the first on two hits and two errors, before taking advantage of a third RPI error to take 4-0 lead after two.

Fitchburg then put up two runs in the top of the third, including a bases loaded walk to Cooper Bigelow.

RPI came back with its biggest inning of the year, scoring eight run to take an 8-6 lead. The first eight batters reached base in the inning, including hits from the first from the first seven.

The teams traded runs in the fourth, before Fitchburg drew to within one (9-8) in the fifth.

Ramos and Jeff Sitarski each delivered run-scoring hits in the bottom of the inning for an 11-8 lead.

In the top of the seventh, Fitchburg took advantage of two RPI errors to score two runs, but senior Jack Krasovec was able to induce a flyout to center to end the game.

Freshman righthander Griffin Kelley earned his first collegiate win on the hill, allowing two runs (1 earned) on two hits in 2.0 innings. Krasovec picked up the team's first save of the year.

Rensselaer is back in action tomorrow morning, when it faces William Paterson (11am). Fitchburg hosts Elms on Monday (3:30pm).