Skyhawks Earn Twinbill Split With Penmen

Stonehill drops game one, 8-6, responds in game two with 6-5 triumph

Sophomore Zach Soulier pushed his
record to 5-0 on the season with a
victory in game two.

MANCHESTER, N.H. (April 14, 2012) – Stonehill College, ranked fourth overall in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) East Regional Poll, split a Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) Northeast Division twinbill with no. 7 ranked Southern New Hampshire University, also ranked first overall in the NCBWA East Regional Poll, today at Penmen Field. Southern New Hampshire won game one, 8-6, and Stonehill took game two, 6-5.

Stonehill head coach Patrick Boen (Stonehill, '89, 15th season) is now one win shy of 400 in his career (399-285-2) after today's doubleheader split.

Southern New Hampshire 8, Stonehill 6

Sophomore Alex Powers (Brewster, Mass./Nauset Regional) earned the win out of the bullpen as the right-hander recorded two outs, walked one and struck out two. Freshman Lucas Olen (Bedford, N.H./Bedford) picked up his first save of the season with a perfect ninth inning.

Freshman Jim Duff (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) was handed the loss in relief on three innings pitched, two hits, three runs (two earned), two walks and four strikeouts. Senior Kyle Shepard (Boxford, Mass./Masconomet) landed the no-decision over five innings of work, eight hits, five runs (all earned), three walks and a game-high eight strikeouts.

The Skyhawks claimed an early 4-1 lead as senior designated hitter Steven Popp (Unionville, Conn./Farmington) connected on a RBI double in the second, sophomore right fielder Billy Karalis (Pawtucket, R.I./Bishop Feehan) drove in a pair of runs with a double to centerfield in the third inning and sophomore second baseman Dan Fratus (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) plated a run with an infield single to short in the fourth.

Southern New Hampshire answered with a three-run fifth inning to even the score at 4-4. Sophomore second baseman Jamie Wollerman (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J./Saint Joseph Regional) knocked in two runs with a single to left centerfield and eventually came around to score on a wild pitch.

Stonehill responded in the sixth inning with a Karalis RBI walk while another run came across as Popp was hit-by-a-pitch with the bases loaded.

Sophomore third baseman Riley Palmer (Goffstown, N.H./Goffstown) sparked the Penmen's comeback efforts in the bottom of the frame with a leadoff homer to right field off of Duff to cut into the deficit at 6-5. Junior Matt Boulter (Wrentham, Mass./Bishop Feehan) gave Southern New Hampshire the lead for good with a two-run double to right centerfield while junior first baseman Andy Lalli (Lakeville, Mass./Coyle and Cassidy) capped the scoring with a run-producing single up the middle.

Stonehill 6, Southern New Hampshire 5

Sophomore left-hander Zach Soulier (Milford, Conn./Jonathan Law) pushed his record to 5-0 overall on the season on six-and-two-thirds innings, eight hits, four runs (all earned), two walks and a game-high nine strikeouts. Freshman Armand Rugel (Middletown, R.I./Middletown) notched his second save closing out the final two-and-one-thirds innings, giving up four hits, one run (earned), no walks and three strikeouts.

Junior Mendez (Patchogue, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) was handed the loss in a complete-game effort allowing eight hits, six runs (four earned), one walk and five punchouts.

Senior Michael White currently has an 18-game hitting streak going.

Stonehill struck the scoreboard first in the top of the first inning as senior first baseman Michael White (Lisbon, N.H./Lisbon Regional) drove in junior centerfielder James DeAlto (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y./Briarcliff) with a single down the left field line. Fratus followed with a double in the left centerfield gap that scored White from first base. With two hits in game one and a 2-for-3 showing in the nightcap, White extended his hitting streak to 18-straight games on the season.

Lalli took Soulier deep to left field in the bottom half of the frame to make it 2-1.

Both teams went scoreless until the sixth inning as Stonehill scored one run a RBI single to centerfield from Popp and the Penmen answered with a sacrifice fly off the bat of sophomore left fielder Greg Pezzuto (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y./Hastings) to keep the gap at one-run, 3-2.

Fratus delivered a two-run single in the seventh inning to increase the advantage to 5-2 and White scored on a throwing error to give the Skyhawks a 6-2 lead.

The Penmen posted a three-run frame of their own in the bottom of the seventh as Boulter knocked in a run on a groundout, Lalli plated a run with a single to right field and Pezzuto drove in another on a RBI single through the left side of the infield. Rugel escaped any further damage with a lineout to the shortstop and a 4-3 groundout.

In the following two innings, Rugel successfully stranded a Southern New Hampshire baserunner twice at second base with at least one out in either frame.

Stonehill (23-11, 11-5 NE-10, 6-2 Northeast Division) plays Southern New Hampshire (31-5, 14-3 NE-10, 7-2 Northeast Division) tomorrow night under the Penmen Field lights at 6 p.m.