Flynn's Two-Run Homer Snaps 3-3 Tie And Caps Four Run Rally As Baseball Gains Split Of Northeast-10 Doubleheader With 25th-Ranked Southern Connecticut By Posting 5-3 Opening Game Victory

May 5, 2005

STONEHILL BASEBALL

Thursday, May 5, 2005

Spillane Field, Wareham, Mass.

GAME #1 FINAL: STONEHILL 5, SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT 3

123 456 789 R H E

So. Connecticut (25-10, 22-5 Northeast-10) 010 000 020 - 3 11 2

Stonehill (23-15, 16-10 Northeast-10) 000 001 04x - 5 7 3

BATTERIES

SCS: Justin Cox, Ben Starta (8), Jared Rohrig (8) and Joe Pagan

STO: Billy Sittig, Mat Lindenmayer (8) and Matt Vaughn

WP: Lindenmayer (1-0) LP: Starta (2-2) Home Run: STO – Tim Flynn (2)

GAME #2 FINAL: SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT 1, STONEHILL 0

123 456 789 R H E

So. Connecticut (26-10, 23-5 Northeast-10) 100 000 000 - 1 10 0

Stonehill (23-16, 16-11 Northeast-10) 000 000 000 - 0 1 3

BATTERIES

SCS: Jeff Farrell and Joe Pagan

STO: Brian Nelson, Joe Breen (8) and Tom Aldrich

WP: Farrell (6-0) LP: Nelson (2-3)

WAREHAM, Mass.-- Senior Tim Flynn’s (Clifton Park, N.Y.) two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning snapped a 3-3 tie and capped a four-run rally that led Stonehill to a 5-3 victory over 25th-ranked Southern Connecticut in the opening game of a Northeast-10 Conference baseball doubleheader played Thursday afternoon at Spillane Field, as the visiting Owls received a complete-game one-hitter from junior Jeff Farrell (Naugatuck, Conn.) to post a 1-0 triumph in the nightcap to gain a split.

The host Chieftains (23-16, 16-11 Northeast-10) trailed 3-1 entering the bottom of the eighth in the opener but evened matters on a pair of RBI doubles off the bats of juniors Sean Lawrence (New Rochelle, N.Y.) and Coley Lyons (West Roxbury, Mass.). Flynn then gave Stonehill the lead for good with his two-run blast, his second homer of the spring, to cap the rally and make a winner of freshman Mat Lindenmayer (Penfield, N.Y.) on the mound, as he picked up his first collegiate victory with 1 2/3 innings of relief work.

The two teams entered the eighth tied at 1-1 before the visiting Owls (26-10, 23-5 Northeast-10) took a 3-1 cushion on a two-run single by senior Jon DeRubeis (Milford, Conn.), setting up Flynn’s heroics in the bottom the frame. Southern Connecticut had taken a 1-0 second inning lead on a sacrifice fly by senior Tyler Call (Hopkinton, Mass.), but Stonehill forged a 1-1 tie in the sixth on Flynn’s RBI infield single, as he led a seven-hit Chieftain attack with two hits and three RBI. Senior Mel Davis (Bristol, Conn.) had three of Southern Connecticut’s 11 hits in the opener, while Call and senior Bob Pentino (Hamden, Conn.) each had two hits for the Owls.

Sophomore Ben Starta (Franklin, Mass.) took the setback on the mound in the opener for Southern Connecticut in relief of freshman Justin Cox (Newburgh, N.Y.), who entered the game as the national leader in Division II in earned run average and allowed three hits and an earned run while fanning six. Junior Billy Sittig (West Roxbury, Mass.) allowed nine hits and two earned runs while striking out nine in 7 1/3 innings on the mound for Stonehill, as he now has 77 strikeouts in 68 1/3 innings on the season.

Farrell allowed just a leadoff single by Flynn in the fifth inning in going the distance in the nightcap for Southern Connecticut, as he struck out 11 in improving to 6-0 on the mound. The Owls plated the only run of the contest in their first at-bat on a Pentino RBI single, as he had a pair of hits and junior Steve Gatewood (Franklin, Mass.) collected three of the visitors’ 10 hits in the second outing.

Junior Brian Nelson (Greenville, R.I.) was a tough-luck loser on the mound in the nightcap for Stonehill, allowing seven hits and just the one run while fanning five to fall to 2-3 on the season.

Both teams saw their respective winning streaks come to an end during the doubleheader, as Southern Connecticut saw its seven-game skein end in the opener and Stonehill saw a five-game winning streak end in the nightcap.

The Chieftains and Owls close out their three-game Northeast-10 set on Friday afternoon in New Haven, Conn. beginning at 1:00 p.m.