(ALBANY, NY)-- The doubleheader trend continues for the Albany Dutchmen.
Albany hosted the Saugerties Stallions for a Saturday night doubleheader at Dutchmen Field, and after a commanding 9-7 victory to open the evening, the thrills in game two that started in the Dutchmen’s favor would quickly turn against them in what resulted in a 11-5 loss.
Saugerties would take the first lead of the evening, putting together a two-out rally after Dutchmen starter Greg Shaw III (Manhattan) struck out the first two batters he faced. After a single and double would put runners on second and third, a pair of wild pitches would allow both runners to score.
Albany would be quick to respond in the bottom of the first, as Anthony Paskell (Rider) and Vince Venditti (Saint Rose) would lead off with a single and a double, cutting the 2-0 deficit in half. After Venditti stole third, a Tyler Kipp (Fairfield) groundout would bring in the Burnt Hills product to tie the game at two after one.
Samuel Hill (UMass) would lead off the second inning with a home run to give the lead back to Saugerties, but Albany would take the lead back for good in the bottom half of the inning.
After Austin Francis (NJIT) would wear the first pitch of the bottom of the second and Korson Hastings (Trinity) drew a four-pitch walk, Tre Mariano (Toledo) would double to left to score Francis and move Hastings to third. Mario Cubello (St. John Fisher) would follow with a groundout to score Hastings and give Albany their first lead of the night, and Paskell would follow with another single to bring in Mariano and make it 5-3 Dutchmen.
Albany would add to their lead in the bottom of fourth, as Hastings would score on a double play ball after consecutive singles from him and Mariano to push the lead to three.
The two sides would trade runs in the fifth. Ethan Conrad (Marist) would hit a solo homer to cut the Saugerties deficit to two, but after Venditti led off with his second hit of the game, his second stolen base of the night would move him into scoring position before he later scored on the RBI single from Kipp.
Will Binder (UAlbany) would get on the proverbial board for the Dutchmen in the bottom of the sixth, lacing his first hit in the Albany colors into left to score Paskell and Venditti after their back-to-back single, walk, and perfectly executed double steal, to make it 9-4.
Saugerties would not go down without a fight however, taking advantage of a Dutchmen error and a trio of hits to cut it 9-7 and put the tying run on base with two outs. Parker Lendrum (SNHU) would buckle down however, getting Hill to groundout to end the ballgame.
The two teams would combine for the same 16 runs in game two, however 13 of them came in the final three innings of play, and 15 came in the final four.
Albany put the first run up on the board in the bottom of the third, as a sacrifice fly from Francis would score Binder after his one-out walk, a single from Kipp, and a wild pitch from Stallions starter Xavier Rodriguez (Webber) that got the Great Dane to third.
With Conor Kelly (UMass-Lowell) on second, Andrew Amato (Delaware) would homer in the top of the fifth to give the Stallions back the lead, the only blemish on Dutchmen game two starter Jacob Maurer’s (Lafayette) day. The Beavercreek, Ohio, product would go four and two third strong, allowing just four hits, the two runs on the Amato homer, and one walk to go with a season-high eight strikeouts.
And then, the fireworks began.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Dutchmen put together a two-out rally, set up with Anderson Moreno (SNHU) on first, pinch-running for Ryan Deo (Saint Rose) after his one-out walk. Paskell would draw a walk of his own, and JT Vance (Mississippi College) would single into left to score Moreno and tie the game. Binder would follow with a walk to load the bases, and then one of the rarest plays in baseball happened.
Paskell stole home.
The Solon, Ohio, native took some aggressive leads off new Stallions pitcher Daren Barrera (UTRGV) throughout his first batter faced in Kipp with third baseman Damion Kenealy (Polk State) playing way off the bag, and before the fifth pitch, crept down the third base line before putting it into high gear and sliding in safely to give the Dutchmen the 3-2 lead.
Kipp would take a walk to reload the bases, and a single from Francis would score Vance and Binder to make it 5-2.
Saugerties would show the same resiliency in the seventh as they did in the first game, as a pair of singles from Hill and Alex Rodriguez (Mt. San Antonio) would set up Amato for the game-tying three run home run.
Albany was unable to pitch together anything in the bottom of the seventh before Saugerties exploded for a six-run eighth. Binder would single in the bottom half of the inning, but that would be all the Dutchmen would get as Saugerties would take the split.
Paskell would end his evening 3-for-8 with three runs, an RBI, a walk, and three stolen bases, while Venditti would finish with a similar line, going 3-for-5 with three runs, an RBI, a walk, and three bags of his own. Binder went 2-for-6 with two runs, two RBIs, two walks, and a stolen base.
Albany has Sunday off before returning to action on Monday, when they will host the Oneonta Outlaws at Dutchmen Field looking to avenge their Fourth of July loss. First pitch is set for 6:35, and the game will be broadcast live on Albany Dutchmen Facebook.
