Sophomore Armand Rugel collected the win for Stonehill in game two (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Easton, Mass. (April 16, 2013) – The Stonehill College baseball team took one of two games from the UMass Lowell River Hawks in a pair of Northeast-10 Conference matchups at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, Mass.
Umass Lowell 7, Stonehill 5 (Final – 17 Innings) *Continuation of April 2nd halted game
Lowell scores two in the 17th to take game one.
Sophomore Geoff Fisher (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) picked up the win for UMass Lowell. Fisher pitched the 16th and 17th innings after tossing three innings when the game was halted on April 2nd. Fisher yielded one run on four hits and two walks while striking out five.
Freshman Mike Krupczak (Springfield, Mass./Cathedral) was tagged with the loss for the Skyhawks. Like Fisher, Krupczak gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits and one walk.
With action picking up in the top of the 16th and UMass Lowell the designated away team, the River Hawks picked up a run to take the lead. With one out and a man on second, Jacob O'Keefe (Wellington, Fla./American Heritage Boca) reached on an error by the shortstop, putting Lowell up 5-4.
The Skyhawks stayed alive, scoring one run in the bottom of the 16th to tie the game. With a runner on second, senior Michael Zeiner (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) hit an RBI-single to center field, scoring the game-tying run.
Lowell would not be denied though, tallying two runs in the top of the 17th. Jimmy Ricoy (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) broke the tie when he singled home a run with one out in the inning. The River Hawks would add another run in the inning and shut out the Skyhawks in the bottom of the inning to take the victory.
Stonehill 10, UMass Lowell 6
Seven-run fifth leads Stonehill to victory in game two.
Freshman Chris Hoyt (Walpole, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) and sophomore Eric Schneider (Camarillo, Calif./St. Bonaventure) each recorded two RBI and multiple hits to lead the way for Stonehill. Hoyt went 3-for-5 with a triple and two runs scored, while Schneider posted two singles and scored a run.
Sophomore catcher Jacob O'Keefe (Wellington, Fla./American Heritage Boca) paced the River Hawks offense with a double and two RBI. Joe Consolmagno (Worcester, Mass./St. Peter Marian) and James Katsiroubas (Milton, Mass./Milton) also recorded RBIs for the River hawks in the loss.
Sophomore Armand Rugel (Middletown, R.I./Middletown) pitched 7.1 innings to earn the victory for the Skyhawks. Rugel yielded six runs (five earned) on 11 hits and four walks, while striking out six. Freshman Patrick Nicholson (Middleboro, Mass./Middleboro) went the final 1.2 innings to earn the save for Stonehill. Nicholson held the River Hawks scoreless, giving up just one hit in the outing.
Sophomore Christian Lavoie (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) took the loss in 4.1 innings of work for Lowell. Lavoie gave up six earned runs on eight hits for the River Hawks. Jordan Del Sol (Elizabeth, N.J./Wardlaw-Hartridge) tossed four innings of relief, yielding three earned runs on five hits and two walks.
Umass Lowell got the scoring started with two runs in the bottom of the first. After the first two batters reached, Katsiroubas robed an RBI-single to left field. Two batters later, with runners on first and third, Pat Devlin (Tewksbury, Mass./Tewksbury) hit a sacrifice fly to right field, making it 2-0 River Hawks.
Junior Dan Fratus belted his second home run of the season in Stonehill's game two victory (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Four innings later, the Skyhawks erupted for seven runs to take a 7-2 lead. With runners on second and third, Hoyt hit a two-run triple to left center field to knot the score at 2-2. The next batter, senior James DeAlto (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y./Briarcliff), scored Hoyt when he doubled to right center field. Three batters later, with runners on first and third, Anthony Pagano (Cranston, R.I./Cranston West) made it 4-2 when he hit an RBI-single to right field. After the Skyhawks scored their fifth run on a wild pitch, Schneider made it 7-2 when he sprayed a two-run single to right field.
Lowell got two back in the bottom of the sixth, making it 7-4. O'Keefe stepped to the plate with runners on first and second and hit an two-RBI double to center field to cut Stonehill's lead to three.
After Lowell made it 7-5 in the seventh, they made it a one run game with a run in the eighth inning. Following a lead-off triple by Matt Mottola (Newburyport, Mass./Newburyport), Consolmagno hit an RBI-single to center field to make it 7-6.
The Skyhawks added a little cushion with three runs in the top of the ninth. With runners on first and second, Dan Fratus (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) launched his second home run of the season, putting Stonehill up four.
The River Hawks put two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth, but failed to score as Nicholson closed the door for his first career save.
The Skyhawks (20-14, 8-8 NE-10) return to action Saturday afternoon at 12:00 pm when they travel to play Franklin Pierce University for an NE-10 double-header. Next up for the River Hawks (20-15, 3-6 NE-10) is a Wednesday night matchup with the College of Saint Rose.
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