HOBOKEN, NJ— Picking up a halted game from last night, the Houghton Highlanders came within an inch of pulling of a dramatic comeback.  Literally.
 
With two outs in the top of the ninth Whitney Cook beat out a bunt single then stole second base.  With Cook in scoring position, leadoff hitter David Wessells lined a hard shot up the middle that hit rubber and careened to the shortstop.  Wessells end up at first base and Cook at third, but had the ball been an inch higher, or to the right or left, the ball would have ended up in centerfield and Cook would have scored the tying run.
 
The Ducks retired the next batter to finish off the game.
 
The game had been halted after five complete innings yesterday due to a city ordinance that does not allow an inning to begin after 10:30 p.m..  At that time the Ducks held a 5-2 lead.
 
Stevens extended their lead quickly, scoring two in the sixth and another in the seventh.
 
The Highlander did collect a run in the top of the sixth when Taylor Huntsman blasted a ground-ruled double to left center to score Cook.
 
In the eighth, Huntsman struck again, doubling to right-center to score Wessells and Tage Johnson followed with his third homerun of the season to deep left-center to make it a one-run game.
 
Game #2: Victor Cavalieri tossed a gem into the eighth inning, limiting the Ducks to only one run while striking out 11, before Stevens finally broke through. 
 
The Highlanders trailed 1-0 after Alex Detweiler homered in the fourth, but a two-run blast from Nick Melchiore in the sixth gave Houghton a one-run lead.
 
In the seventh, Whitney Cook doubled down the right field line to score John Zamites to extend the Highlander lead to 3-1.
 
Stevens opened the floodgates in the eighth, scoring six runs, including another homerun from Detweiler to win the game.
 
GAME VITALS                           
Game 1 Score: Houghton – 7 | Stevens - 8
Game 2 Score: Houghton – 3 | Stevens – 7
Records: Houghton: 9-10 (2-4 Empire 8) | Stevens: 16-11 (9-3 Empire 8)
Venue: Dobbelaar Field, Stevens Institute of Technology| Attendance: 200
 
KEY STATS:
>> Johnson finished his day 3-for-5 with four walks and four RBI. 
 
>> Wessells and Huntsman each added four hits apiece for the Highlanders while Huntsman doubled twice.  He continues to lead the conference in that category with 11 two-bag base hits.
 
>> Cavalieri has now struck out at least 10 batters in each of his last three starts, racking up 33 strikeouts in his last 19 innings.

COACH'S CORNER:
"We made a great comeback in the first game and the second game just slipped away from us at the end.  The truth of the matter is: we beat a very good team for the majority of the day… and still came away two losses.  That's tough to swallow.
 
"Vic threw a tremendous game.  The stats won't do him justice because he had to stay in longer than he should have, but he was nearly unhittable today.  It's hard to watch him dominate for so long and watch it slip away.
 
"We had some big hits in key spots.  Nick [Melchiore], Whit[ney Cook], Taylor [Huntsman], Tage [Johnson] and David [Wessells] all came through when we needed them.
 
"Jeremy [Newswanger] and Ben [Closson] made some very special plays that kept us in it throughout the day.

"We've come a long way.  As a team, we're figuring out that we can compete with a lot of good teams.  The next step is finding out how to lock things up late.  If we can do that, we will be a playoff-caliber team that no one will want to play." – Coach Brian Reitnour
 
UP NEXT:
Houghton returns home to face Ithaca College on Wednesday, April 11 at 5:00 p.m.