WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) baseball team opened the 2026 season with a pair of non-league contests at Catholic today, falling 11-10 in the opener before dropping game two, 6-3, on the campus of the Cardinals.

RPI broke through first in the opener with a five-run fourth inning. Walker Abdallah and Michael Lebenson started the rally with back-to-back singles before Matt Chotiner was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Danny Nayvelt then worked a bases-loaded walk to force in the game's first run, and Cam Hawley followed with a fielder's choice that brought home Chotiner and Lebenson (the latter on a throwing error). Charlie Morse capped the outburst with a two-run single to left, giving the Engineers a 5-0 advantage.

Catholic answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth and three more in the fifth to move in front, 6-5, but the Engineers responded again in the seventh. Abdallah reached on an error and Lebenson delivered a run-scoring single (with another run scoring on a defensive miscue) before Chotiner lifted a sacrifice fly to put RPI back in front, 8-6.

The Cardinals rallied with two in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game, and after three runs in the bottom of the eighth, Catholic carried an 11-8 lead into the ninth. RPI made one final push in the last inning as Charlie Lapp launched a solo homer to left, and Alex Coombes singled in another to cut the deficit to 11-10, but Catholic recorded the final out to end the threat.

Lebenson led the Engineers offensively in game one, finishing 3-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI, while Abdallah scored twice and Coombes went 2-for-5 with two RBI. Nayvelt added an RBI and reached base three times, and Morse drove in two during the fourth-inning surge.

In game two, Catholic built an early cushion with four runs across the first two innings, while RPI chipped away late, highlighted by a two-run sixth and a solo homer in the eighth, but the Cardinals held on for the 6-3 final.

After Catholic plated two in the first on a two-run home run and added two more in the second, the Engineers threatened in the fifth, loading the bases behind a walk by Andrew Crux, an infield single by Morse, and another free pass, but Catholic escaped unscathed.

RPI broke through in the sixth when Chotiner singled and later scored on Jorge Hitlin's RBI groundout. Crux followed with an RBI single to bring Coombes home and cut the deficit to 4-2. Catholic answered with two in the bottom of the sixth to restore a four-run lead, and Coombes later provided the final highlight for RPI with a solo shot to left in the eighth to make it 6-3.

Coombes powered the RPI lineup in the nightcap, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored and the solo home run, while Crux finished 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI and Chotiner added a hit and scored once. On the mound, Dylan Chan threw two scoreless innings of relief to close the game, allowing two hits with a strikeout.

The Engineers continue their trip down south with a 2:00 pm meeting at University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA.