Northeast-10 Baseball Championships Changed To One Day Single Elimination Tournament, Second-Seeded Skyhawks Square Off With Third-Seeded Southern Connecticut Friday Afternoon

May 11, 2006

2006 Stonehill College Baseball

LeLacheur Park, Lowell, Massachusetts

MOVING TO SINGLES PLAY…: Stonehill makes its eighth appearance in the last nine seasons in the "final four" format of the Northeast-10 Conference Baseball Championships, as the second-seeded Skyhawks (28-16) are set to square off with the third-seeded Southern Connecticut Owls (32-16) in what has now become a single elimination one-day affair due to impending inclement weather this weekend. Stonehill earned a first round bye into this weekend's play after finishing second in the final regular season league standings with its highest conference win mark since last capturing both the Northeast-10 regular season and tournament titles in 2000, as the Skyhawks are the only conference team to appearance in eight "final fours" since 1998, all of which have come during Head Coach Patrick Boen's nine-year tenure. The other two participants in today's single elimination tournament, top-seeded Franklin Pierce (40-9) and fourth-seeded UMass Lowell (34-12), meet in Friday's first contest, with the two winners playing for the title and the Northeast-10's automatic berth in the NCAA Division II Championships. Southern Connecticut advanced in single elimination play with a 2-0 win over sixth-seeded Saint Anselm on Wednesday afternoon at The Ballpark at Southern in New Haven, Conn., while UMass Lowell advanced with a 1-0 triumph over fifth-seeded Bryant yesterday afternoon here at LeLacheur Park.

THE SEASON SERIES WITH SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT: Stonehill and Southern Connecticut split a home-and-home set last week, as the Skyhawks notched a 4-1 triumph last Thursday afternoon at Gorman Field on the strength of a complete-game six-hitter by senior All-America Billy Sittig (West Roxbury, Mass./Catholic Memorial). The Owls notched a 6-1 victory in the back end of the home-and-home set last Friday afternoon in New Haven, Conn.

THE SEASON SERIES WITH FRANKLIN PIERCE: Stonehill took two of three match-ups with Franklin Pierce during the first weekend of April, as the two squads split a twinbill on April Fool's Day in Rindge, N.H. The Ravens took the opener by an 8-2 final, but the Skyhawks won a 3-1 10-inning decision in the nightcap backed by a standout pitching performance by senior Brian Nelson (Greenville, R.I./LaSalle) and a clutch hit in the 10th by senior tri-captain Sean Lawrence (New Rochelle, N.Y./Iona Prep). Stonehill took the rubber game on April 2nd at Gorman Field by a 3-2 final, as sophomore Andy Hillier (Hanover, Mass./Hanover) pitched eight-plus innings for the win and received relief help from senior tri-captain Joe Breen (Swampscott, Mass./Swampscott), who earned the save.

THE SEASON SERIES WITH UMASS LOWELL: Stonehill dropped two of three meetings with UMass Lowell last weekend, as the Skyhawks clinched a bye and second place in the final regular season standings with a 5-0 triumph in the opening game of a doubleheader last Saturday afternoon at Gorman Field. Freshman Matt Giusti (Hopkinton, Mass./Williston-Northampton), this week's Northeast-10 Freshman of the Week, tossed a complete-game three-hit shutout and fanned five to lift Stonehill in that contest. The River Hawks posted a come-from-behind 3-2 win in the nightcap last Saturday before notching a 3-1 victory last Sunday afternoon in the rubber game of the set here at LeLacheur Park.

SAME TEAMS, NEXT YEAR: Stonehill, Southern Connecticut, Franklin Pierce and UMass Lowell all return to the Northeast-10 final four after playing in last year's then double elimination portion of the tournament as well.

SCORE FOUR?: Stonehill has appeared in the Northeast-10 tournament championship game in three of the last six seasons, as the Skyhawks bested Assumption for the 2000 league crown while falling to both UMass Lowell (2002) and Franklin Pierce (2005).

THE SKYHAWKS: Lawrence leads Stonehill at the plate with a .320 batting average that includes 20 doubles and 34 RBI, while sophomore Ryan Halloran (Tyngsboro, Mass./Tyngsboro) follows at .305 with 40 hits and eight RBI. Senior tri-captain Coley Lyons (West Roxbury, Mass./Catholic Memorial) is next at .296 with 10 doubles and 22 RBI, while juniors Max Vigliotti (Stamford, Conn./Cheshire Academy) and Tom Aldrich (New Canaan, Conn./Trinity Catholic) follow at .281 and .271, respectively, with a combined 14 doubles and 47 RBI. Sittig, the reigning Northeast-10 Pitcher of the Year, is 7-2 on the mound for the Skyhawks with a 1.98 ERA, having fanned 74 in 86 1/3 innings to date, while Nelson is 4-1 with a 2.09 ERA, holding opponents to a .215 batting average. Breen is 6-2 with three saves and a 2.53 ERA for Stonehill, while Hillier is 5-3 with a 3.28 ERA, fanning 38 in 46 2/3 innings of work.

THE OWLS: Junior Jose Ortiz leads Southern Connecticut at the plate with a .408 batting average to go with 15 doubles and 39 RBI, while reigning Northeast-10 Player of the Week Billy Hite follows at .342 and freshman Michael Diaz checks in at .341 with 11 doubles and 26 RBI. Sophomore Justin Cox is 6-0 with a 2.12 ERA for the Owls, while senior Matt Hennessey and junior Josh Terletzsky each have six wins for Southern Connecticut.

THE RAVENS: Freshman Scott Savastano leads Franklin Pierce at the plate with a .409 batting average to go with 10 doubles and 30 RBI, while junior Garrett Olson follows at .362 with 17 doubles and 49 RBI. Sophomore Shane Presutti is 9-0 with a 1.19 ERA on the mound for the Ravens, while senior Tyler Cummings and junior Arric Mather have each posted identical 8-1 marks for Franklin Pierce to date.

THE RIVER HAWKS: Junior Patrick Wilson leads UMass Lowell at the plate with a .361 batting average, including 15 doubles and 40 RBI, while freshman Tim Keene follows at .348. Junior Pete Nickerson is 7-1 with a 2.73 ERA for the River Hawks, while fellow junior Kevin Graham has posted a 6-2 mark with a 2.42 ERA for UMass Lowell to date.

HEAD COACH PATRICK BOEN: Patrick Boen is in his ninth season as Head Baseball Coach at Stonehill College. A 1989 Stonehill graduate, Boen has guided his alma mater to an overall mark of 245-169-2 (.591) during his tenure that includes back-to-back Northeast-10 crowns in 1999 and 2000 and the school's only NCAA tournament appearance in 2000, where the Skyhawks advanced to the Northeast Regional title game. Boen is assisted by Nick Lee (Florida Southern '01) and Stonehill's first All-America performer in Junior Medina (Stonehill '02).

SKYHAWK TALK: Stonehill was ranked fifth in this week's NCAA Northeast Regional poll for the second straight week…Sittig enters the Northeast-10 championships with a school career record of 285 strikeouts…Stonehill bested Southern Connecticut in last year's first elimination round game before taking out UMass Lowell and advancing to the championship round against Franklin Pierce…The April 1st nightcap win over Franklin Pierce ended a 13-game Stonehill winless skein against the Ravens that dated back to 2002…The Skyhawks tied the school record for consecutive victories with a 12-game winning streak in April…Stonehill stands at 27-10 in NCAA Regional play entering the tournament…The Skyhawks have won 25 or more games in each of the last six seasons.

For more information on Skyhawk Baseball, log-on to www.stonehillskyhawks.com

2006 Northeast-10 Conference Baseball Championships

PRELIMINARY ROUND – Wednesday-Thursday, May 10-11

Game #1: #3 Southern Connecticut 2, #6 Saint Anselm 0

Game #2: #4 UMass Lowell 1, #5 Bryant 0

SINGLE ELIMINATION ROUNDS (All games at LeLacheur Park, Lowell, Mass.) – May 12th

Game #3: #4 UMass Lowell (34-12) vs. #1 Franklin Pierce (40-9) 10:00 am

Game #4 #3 Southern Connecticut (32-16) vs. #2 STONEHILL (28-16) 30 min. after

Game #5: Game #3 winner vs. Game #4 winner 30 min. after