Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Game 1 Box / Game 2 Box

TROY, N.Y. – The 10th-ranked Rensselaer baseball team hit five home runs on its way to splitting a doubleheader with area-rival Union at Robison Field. RPI fell 9-8 in game one, before beating the Dutchmen, 19-5, in game two. The Red Hawks move to 24-8 (17-2 Liberty League), while Union is now 6-16 (3-11 Liberty).

Game one saw the Dutchmen jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, thanks to three RPI errors. Junior Andy Brown (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Springs) and senior Pat Wilson (Cos Cob, CT/Greenwich) had the two hits in the inning, and each scored a run.

Rensselaer got two runs back in the third and three more in the fourth to take a 5-4 lead. Sophomore Mike Cieszko (Stevenson Ranch, CA/William S. Hart) came through with an RBI-double in front of junior Scott Robinson's (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen) seventh home run of the season, which put the Red Hawks in front.

Trailing 6-4 in the sixth, Union put together a five-run inning to regain the lead at 9-6. Brown and pinch-hitter Paul Mene (Falls Church, VA/George Mason) each delivered two-run doubles, with John Johnson (Smithtown, NY/St. John the Baptist) adding an RBI-single.

Sean Wilkes (Troy, NY/Catholic Central) brought the hosts to within a run when he drove in two with a single in the bottom of the inning, but that was as close as RPI got as Union relief pitcher Colin McKelligan (Canton, MA/Salisbury) got Cieszko to fly out with one on in the seventh to secure the win. McKelligan allowed three runs on five hits over 3.0 innings to earn the victory.

In game two, it was the Red Hawks who jumped out an early lead, scoring five times in the bottom of the first. Five straight batters reached to open the inning, including junior Camden Mamigonian (Dover, NH/Dover) who came through with a two-RBI single.

After the Dutchmen got one back in the top of the second, RPI answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Patrick Reardon (Troy, NY/LaSalle Institute) got the scoring started with his fifth home run of the year. A double and a walk then set up a three-run shot off the bat of Mamigonian to make it 9-1.

The Red Hawks score three more times in the fifth, once in the sixth, before plating five runs in the eighth, which was highlighted by Billy Nikolski's (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Spa) first career home run. The Dutchmen got a two-run homer from sophomore Jarid Hotaling (Schenectady, NY/Albany Academy) in the ninth to complete the scoring.

RPI senior starting pitcher Andrew Novick (Hopewell Junction, NY/John Jay) earned the complete game win, surrendering five runs on 13 hits over 9.0 innings. He struck out five, while walking two.

The Red Hawks return to action on Wednesday, when they host MCLA for a non-league contest (4pm).