Stonehill head coach Patrick Boen earns 400^th career win (400-291-2)

Stonehill College head coach Patrick Boen earned his 400th career victory.

EASTON, Mass. (April 25, 2012) – Stonehill College, ranked seventh overall in the latest NCBWA East Regional Poll, claimed a 4-1 victory over UMass Lowell in Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) Northeast Division action on Wednesday evening at Lou Gorman Field.

With the win, Stonehill head coach Patrick Boen (Stonehill, '89, 15^th season) earned his 400^th career victory today. Coach Boen is currently 400-291-2 (.577 winning percentage) in his 15 seasons at the helm of the Stonehill College baseball program. In 11 of his 15 seasons at Stonehill, the Skyhawks have won at least 25 games in those years and have won 15 or more conference games in every season but four.

Freshman right-hander Jim Duff (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City), making his first-career start, tossed a complete-game allowing just one run (unearned) on ten hits, no walks and fanned a game-high seven batters on 131 pitches (92 strikes).

Junior Taylor Robinson (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill) was handed the loss on six innings pitched, four hits, four runs (all unearned), one walk and three strikeouts.

After senior left fielder Michael White (Lisbon, N.H./Lisbon Regional) ripped a single up the middle with two outs in the bottom of the first inning, Robinson went on to retire 15-straight batters by inducing nine groundballs, five fly outs and one punchout before the Skyhawks scored four runs in the sixth.

UMass Lowell took a 1-0 lead in the second as James Katsiroubas (Milton, Mass./Milton) reached on a leadoff fielding error, advanced to second on his first of two stolen bases on the afternoon and was driven home on a double to left field from senior Mark Sanborn (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton), his 13^th two-base knock of the season.

In the sixth, Robinson retired the first two batters he faced – both on groundouts – but the inning escaped the River Hawks as Robinson hit Billy Horobin (Wallingford, Conn./Mark T. Sheehan) and a fielding error allowed senior Michael Zeiner (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) to reach setting up White's three-run homer to right field, his third of the season, which served as the game-winning runs.

Stonehill tacked on an insurance run in the frame as sophomore Dan Fratus (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) worked a four pitch walk, classmate Billy Karalis (Pawtucket, R.I./Bishop Feehan) hit a bloop single to left field and senior Steven Popp (Unionville, Conn./Farmington) followed with a run-producing single to left for a 4-1 advantage.

Duff pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh, gave up two hits in the eighth and struck out senior third baseman Cam Kneeland (Rowley, Mass./Triton Regional), who represented the game-tying run at the plate, to end the game.

Stonehill (24-17, 12-10 NE-10, 7-7 Northeast Division) travel to Saint Anselm College on Saturday, April 28 for a NE-10 Northeast Division Twinbill with game one scheduled for 3 p.m. UMass Lowell (23-15-1, 12-9-1 NE-10, 7-7 Northeast Division) hosts American International College for a NE-10 inter-divisional single game matchup on Thursday, April 26 at LeLacheur Park at 3:30 p.m.