Freshman Billy Karalis was 1-for-3 with a stolen base.

Monroe and Walfield combine on four-hit shutout in regular season finale

Junior righthander Brad Monroe (Hampton Falls, N.H./Winnacunnet) and senior righthander Ryan Walfield (Strafford, N.H./Spaulding) combined on the four-hit shutout to lead Southern New Hampshire to the win. Monroe (6-3) earned the win, scattering four hits over eight scoreless innings with nine strikeouts and two walks, while Walfield worked around a hit batter in a scoreless ninth, striking out one. Monroe retired the first nine batters he faced before working around a first and third situation with one out in the fourth and then set down six of the last seven batters he faced in the final two innings.

Sophomore Matt Boulter (Wrentham, Mass./Bishop Feehan) was the lone SNHU batter with multiple hits as he finished 2-for-4. Grad student Chris O'Neil (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBI, while senior Tim Rines (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack) batted 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Senior Robert Wronski (Arlington, Mass./Arlington Catholic) hit 1-for-3 with a home run, while junior Juan Amador (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) chipped in by going 1-for-3 with an RBI and run scored.

Freshman lefthander Zack Soulier (Milford, Conn./Jonathan Law) matched Monroe for seven innings before coming apart in the eighth to take the loss (5-2). He allowed four earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 7.1 innings. Soulier retired nine-straight batters leading up to Wronski's one out home run in the eighth that provided the Penmen the lone run it needed, but sparking a six run frame.

Freshman William Karalis (Pawtucket, R.I./Bishop Feehan) hit 1-for-3 with a stolen base for Stonehill. Juniors Michael White (Lisbon, N.H./Lisbon Regional) and Rich McHugh (Pembroke, Mass./Thayer Academy) both finished 1-for-3 as well.

Both pitchers breezed through the first seven and a half innings in just about an hour and a half, when Wronski sparked Southern New Hampshire's six-run eighth with his second home run of the year to centerfield after Soulier had retired the first batter of the inning. Rines greeted Stonehill senior righthander Brenden Shepard (Boxford, Mass./Masconomet) with a two-run double to center that bumped the lead to 4-0 after a run had scored on an error following Amador's single to chase Soulier. O'Neil added a two-run double later in the inning to break the game open and cap the scoring before Shepard got two strikeouts to get out of the inning.

Stonehill's best scoring chance came in the fourth when McHugh led off with a single to mark the Skyhawks first base runner off Monroe, was sacrificed to second and then reached third when White reached on a bunt single. However, Monroe got a foul out and ground out to escape the jam. Stonehill got the leadoff hitters on base in each of the final five innings as well, but got just two into scoring position as Monroe struck out three-straight after a single by senior Angelo Bruno (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) in the seventh and also retired the next three after Karalis' single in the eighth before the Penmen broke through.

Stonehill (30-17, 13-12 NE-10) returns to action on Wednesday when it opens its second-straight trip to the postseason and opens defense of its Northeast-10 Conference Tournament Championship with a first round matchup at third-seeded Franklin Pierce University at a time to be announced. Southern New Hampshire brings its season to a close with a 25-22 record overall, 12-14 in NE-10 play.