Alexandria Aces Win Over Grays Behind Rubin’s Huge Night

Washington, D.C. — Nobody was going to walk away from this one comfortably. The Alexandria Aces and D.C. Grays traded the lead seven times Sunday at Talbot Field at Catholic University before the Aces finally made one hold up, escaping with a 7-6 win that took three hours and fifteen minutes.

Jack Rubin (Fordham University) went 4-for-4, scored three times, doubled, walked, stole a base, and delivered the go-ahead hit in the eighth. Not a bad night’s work.

“That was a grind it out type of ball game,” Aces Head Coach Brian Wirth said afterward.

Rubin’s night

Rubin led off the second with a double and scored on a Shraden Lechtenberg (Black Hawk College) sacrifice fly to open the scoring.

“He (Rubin) also started the scoring for us tonight,” Wirth said. “Leadoff double in the second, stole third, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Lechtenberg.”

Rubin scored again in the fifth on a wild pitch, tying the game at 5-5 in an inning that also included a bases-loaded walk from William Bercaw (Columbia University).

Then came the eighth. Two outs, nobody on. Brad Larson (Wofford) hustled a double into extra bases to keep the inning alive, and Rubin made it count, singling him home for what stood as the winning run.

“Two outs, nobody on in the eighth, big hustle double by Larson to extend the inning, and then hero of the night Jack Rubin drove in the go-ahead run,” Wirth said.

Daniel McGinnis (Eastern Mennonite) had a hand in the big third inning too, singling home a run. Matthew Pazak (University of Pennsylvania), pinch-hitting for Lechtenberg, doubled and got plunked in the same frame. Bercaw added a double of his own on top of the RBI walk.

The Grays kept coming back

Give D.C. credit. They did not fold. Evan Wilson (University of Richmond), who later moved from center field to the mound, singled home a run in the second and scored himself two batters later on a throwing error, making it 2-1 Grays. From there it was tied, retaken, tied again. A two-run fourth built on RBI singles from Beny Bikar Jr. (Southern University) and Ben Drinkwine (UNCW) put D.C. up 5-4.

A wild pitch in the fifth brought Keegan McGraw (Chatham University) home to even it at 6-6.

Bikar Jr. led the Grays at the plate, going 2-for-6 with an RBI. Drinkwine and Wilson both reached base multiple times.

McGraw walked three times and stole three bases. And Hartley Rahman (Catawba College) was maybe the most frustrating out Alexandria dealt with all night: five walks, three stolen bases. But D.C. left sixteen runners on base and could not cash in enough of those chances.

Wild pitches, walks, and a bullpen that settled down

This was not a clean game to pitch.

Alexandria’s staff walked sixteen batters total. Starter Ben Pew (Haverford) issued five in just 1.2 innings, and reliever Dominic Haas (Mount St. Mary’s) gave up three earned runs in his own 1.2 innings.

On the other side, D.C.’s James Pedas and reliever Zander Leckszas, both of Dickinson College, struggled out of the gate: Pedas allowed four runs, only two earned, over 2.2 innings, and Leckszas let in two runs without recording a single out.

Both bullpens eventually settled down. Jack Couture (Haverford College) stabilized things for Alexandria, striking out four over two scoreless innings to carry the game into the ninth, and Brody Shawn (High Point University) closed it out despite hitting a batter along the way.

For the Grays, Caden Brown (Southern University) turned in three solid innings out of the bullpen, and Wilson struck out five over his final two frames.

D.C. had one more shot in the ninth. Rahman walked to lead off, but a fielder’s choice and a strikeout-turned-double-play on the bases ended it there.

Box score

Alexandria Aces 7, D.C. Grays 6

Hits: Aces 9, Grays 7 | Errors: Aces 1, Grays 2 | Time of game: 3:15

Winning pitcher: Jack Couture

Standings

The win moved Alexandria to 14-16 on the season, good for a share of third place in the South Division with the Metro South County Braves, seven and a half games behind first-place Southern Maryland. D.C. dropped to 10-20 and has lost three straight, sitting last in the South at 11.5 games back.

Up Next

Alexandria has two upcoming away games on tap.

A road matchup at Southern Maryland Senators is set for today at 5:00 PM at North Point High School in Waldorf, Maryland. (This writer will admit to occasionally detouring into the Royal Farms in Waldorf for their famous fried chicken on the way to games down there and honestly wishes there were one a little closer to Frank Mann Field.)

Tuesday’s game against the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts at Blair Stadium is a continuation of a game previously suspended by storms with the Aces trailing 0-3 and will resume where the game was postponed.

The win at Catholic on Sunday keeps Alexandria rolling as it pushes toward the end of the 2026 Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League season.  Fans are urged to buy tickets ($7 for adults and $3 for children) for the remainder of the Aces’ 2026 season at alexandriaaces.org/tickets.