Stonehill Turns Back Ashland, 9-5 - Stonehill

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Stonehill (6-2)	2	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	9	10	1
Ashland University (8-3)	0	0	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	5	14	3

Pitching

Win: Zach Soulier (1-0)

Loss: Vince Frate (1-1)

Save: Michael Von stein (1)

Batting

Stonehill

2B: Mike Zeiner

3B: none

HR: Angelo Bruno

Ashland University

2B: none

3B: none

HR: none

full stats

Senior Angelo Bruno homered in his third-straight game over the last two days for Stonehill. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr)

Solier earns first collegiate win with shutout relief work Bruno belts third home run in two days

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (March 12, 2011) – Stonehill College, ranked fifth in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) East Regional poll, picked up its fifth-straight win with a 9-5 victory over Ashland University, among teams receiving votes in this week's Collegiate Baseball magazine Division II poll, in non-conference baseball action at the RussMatt Invitational this afternoon.

Freshman lefthander Zach Solier (Milford, Conn./Jonathan Law) threw four scoreless innings of relief for Stonehill to halt an Ashland rally, while senior Angelo Bruno (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) belted his third home run in two days for the Skyhawks. Bruno finished 2-for-5 with the home run and three RBI.

Sophomore Michael Zeiner (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) hit 1-for-3 with a double and RBI, while junior Michael White (Lisbon, N.H./Lisbon Regional) was 2-for-4 with a stolen base and two runs scored. Juniors Kyle Shepard (Boxford, Mass./Masconomet) and Steven Popp (Unionville, Conn./Farmington) both finished 2-for-4, with Shepard adding two runs scored.

Freshman Zach Solier earned his first career win in just his second appearance, scattering four hits over 4.2 innings.

Solier, making his second collegiate appearance, picked up his first collegiate win (1-0), scattering four hits over 4.2 innings of shutout relief, striking out five and walking two. Junior lefthander Michael Von Stein (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) retired all four batters he faced after entering the game with two on and two out to preserve the win and earn the save.

Stonehill opened a 5-0 lead after two innings, capped by a three-run double by Zeiner in the second. The Skyhawks got on the board with a pair of runs in the first, sparked by a double steal by senior Nick Nardacci (Bethlehem, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) after reaching on a walk. Bruno drove in White with a single.

Ashland knotted the score in the fourth, scoring once in the third before a four-run fourth to chase Stonehill starter Shane Penzone (Hudson, Mass./Hudson Catholic). The Eagles singled four times on five singles in the fourth before Solier came in and stranded runners on

second and third with none out.

Stonehill regained the lead with two in the sixth on an RBI single by Nardacci and a sacrifice fly by senior Scott Hackett (Bangor, Maine/Bangor). Bruno sealed the win with his two-run shot in the ninth after White led off with a single.

Stonehill (6-2, 0-0 NE-10) back in action tomorrow when it faces rival Bentley University at 4 p.m. The Skyhawks first home game is scheduled for Friday, March 25, when they host Post University for a non-conference doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.