Senior Angelo Bruno belted a pair of homers, finishing a combined 3-for-5 with four RBI on the afternoon. (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard)

Skyhawks sweep Assumption in non-conference doubleheader, 5-1 & 6-5

Stonehill 5, Assumption 1

Senior righthander Alex McCormick (Weymouth, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) turned in six strong innings on the mound, while classmate Angelo Bruno (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) and junior Michael White (Lisbon, N.H./Lisbon Regional) both belted home runs as part of two-hit games to lead Stonehill to the 5-1 win in game one.

McCormick (2-0) allowed just the one earned run on two hits with six strikeouts and a walk over his six innings of work. Sophomore Charles DeFrancesco (Lincoln, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury) closed the game out with a perfect seventh.

Bruno finished 2-for-2 at the plate with a pair of walks, the home run and two RBI, while White was 2-for-4 with a homer, stolen base and RBI. Juniors Rich McHugh (Pembroke, Mass./Thayer Academy) and Michael Magnussen (Carver, Mass./Coyle & Cassidy) both chipped in by going 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Senior Alex McCormick improved to 2-0 with six strong innings.

Stonehill opened the scoring right away in the top of the first as senior Scott Hackett (Bangor, Maine/Bangor) reached on an error before Bruno drilled his second home run of the season. The Skyhawks added a single run in the third as White singled, stole second and then scored on a single from McHugh after Assumption intentionally walked Bruno.

Stonehill opened up a 5-0 lead with another pair in the fifth. White led off with his first homer of the season, followed by singles from Bruno and McHugh. Magnussen followed with an RBI single that scored Bruno. Assumption got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, but McCormick and DeFrancesco held the Greyhounds right there with scoreless frames in the sixth and seventh.

Michael White stole third base and scampered home with the winning run as the throw down to third sailed into leftfield in the bottom of the seventh as Stonehill completed the sweep with a 6-5 win in the nightcap.

White led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and stole second. Assumption intentionally walked Angelo Bruno for the third time on the day and then White took off for third, forcing the errant throw to produce the walk off win.

White finished 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and two stolen bases (three total for the afternoon). Bruno was 1-for-3 with a walk, home run and two RBI, while Scott Hackett hit 2-for-4 with a stolen base. Junior Kyle Shepard (Boxford, Mass./Masconomet) batted 1-for-3 with two RBI for the Skyhawks.

Junior Kyle Shepard drove in two runs in the nightcap.

Junior Michael Von Stein (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) picked up the win (2-0) in relief for Stonehill, allowing an unearned run on two hits in an inning of work, leaving the bases loaded in the top of the seventh after Assumption had knotted the score with an unearned run. Junior lefthander Eric Haughn (Pembroke, Mass./Pembroke) did figure in on the decision, allowing four runs, just two earned, on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts in five-plus innings.

Assumption opened the scoring with a two-run first. Stonehill cut the lead in half in the second as Rich McHugh reached on an error and then stole second and third before coming home on a fielder's choice by Shepard. The Greyhounds lead grew to 4-1 after single runs in the fifth and sixth before the Skyhawks erupted for four in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead. Bruno followed a leadoff walk by White with his second homer of the day. Following a McHugh walk and single by sophomore James DeAlto (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y./Briarcliff), Shepard and senior Nick Nardacci (Bethlehem, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) delivered back-to-back RBI singles.

Assumption struck for the unearned run in the top of the seventh to set up White's game-winning heroics.

Stonehill (5-2, 0-0 NE-10) is back in action tomorrow when it faces Ashland University, among teams receiving votes in the Collegiate Baseball magazine Division II poll, in Winter Haven, Fla.., at 12:30 p.m. The Skyhawks first home game isn't scheduled until Friday, March 25, when they host Post University for a non-conference doubleheader at Lou Gorman Field starting at 1 p.m.