Stonehill Earns Doubleheader Split At No. 10 Southern New Hampshire


Freshman Jeremy Roberts earned the win in game two after going 6.2 innings and allowing just one run on three hits.

Roberts earns the win in game two after going 6.2 innings and allowing one run on three hits

MANCHESTER, N.H. (April 27, 2014) – Stonehill College earned a key doubleheader split today with Southern New Hampshire University, ranked No. 10 in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II Poll, in Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division baseball action at Penmen Field. Stonehill suffered a 3-0 setback in the opener, before responding with a 5-1 victory in the night cap.

Freshman lefthander Jeremy Roberts (Reading, Mass./Malden Catholic) earned the win in game two with an impressive effort, as he went 6.2 strong innings, allowing just one run on three hits for his second win of the season. Junior Armand Rugel (Middletown, R.I./Middletown) took over for Roberts in the seventh and got the final seven outs while allowing just one hit for his tenth save of the season.

Senior first baseman Anthony Pagano (Cranston, R.I./Cranston West) led Stonehill at the plate, as he went 3-for-8 with one RBI, while sophomore Chris Hoyt (Walpole, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) was 2-for-9 with a triple, a run, and one RBI. Senior Billy Karalis (Pawtucket, R.I./Bishop Feehan) had two hits in Stonehill's game two victory, and junior Christian Baglini (Milford, Conn./Notre Dame) added a hit and a run as the Skyhawks reached the 25-win plateau for the 13th time in head coach Pat Boen's 17-year tenure.

Junior Jim Duff (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) took his second loss of the season in the opener, despite a strong outing in which he gave up three runs (one earned) on six hits while striking out eight in seven innings of work.

Senior Riley Palmer (Goffstown, N.H./Goffstown) paced the Southern New Hampshire offense in game one with a pair of hits, while juniors Bryan Toland (Wildwood, N.J./Wildwood Catholic) and Tyler Fortanascio (Oradell, N.J./Saint Joseph Regional) recorded the Penmen's only two RBI of the doubleheader.

Freshman Tim Viehoff (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) picked up the win in game one after tossing seven shutout innings and allowing six hits to go with nine strikeouts,  and classmate Ben Criscuolo (Branford, Conn./Xavier) collected his tenth save of the season with 1.2 scoreless frames of relief.

Southern New Hampshire 3, Stonehill 0

Stonehill dropped today's opener after striking out 14 times and stranding ten runners on base. Seven different Skyhawks recorded base hits, but Viehoff and Criscuolo combined to shut out Stonehill and in the process end its five-game winning streak.

After a scoreless first, the Penmen struck for the only three runs of the contest in the bottom of the second inning. Palmer led off with a single, and senior Al Stanton (Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich) followed with a double to put two runners in scoring position. Duff retired the next two batters, but Toland came up next and beat out an infield single, scoring Palmer and advancing Stanton to third. Toland then stole second before both runners came around to score on a Stonehill fielding error, as Southern New Hampshire took a 3-0 lead.

  Senior Anthony Pagano led Stonehill at the plate today, as he went 3-for-8 with one RBI.

Stonehill had a golden opportunity to cut into the three-run deficit in the top of the sixth when the Skyhawks loaded the bases, but Pagano flied out to center field to end the threat. Stonehill again missed a chance to score in the eighth, before senior Dan Fratus (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) struck out with runners on second and third to end the inning.             

Stonehill 5, Southern New Hampshire 1

For the second game in a row, the Penmen took a second-inning lead, this time on a sacrifice fly by Fortanascio. Unlike the opener, however, Stonehill was able to capitalize with runners in scoring position.

Following a leadoff walk in the top of the third, Karalis doubled to right field, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Hoyt came up next and recorded an RBI ground out, advancing Karalis to third, before Karalis came in to score on a Southern New Hampshire error to give Stonehill its first lead of the day.

The Skyhawks took a 3-1 lead in the fifth, as Hoyt scored on another Penmen error after leading off the inning with a single. Two batters later, Pagano singled up the middle, scoring another run to give Stonehill a 4-1 advantage.

The Skyhawks would add one more run in the eighth, as Fratus doubled before eventually scoring when sophomore Chris Callahan (Southington, Conn./Holy Cross) grounded into a double play. Southern New Hampshire went down quietly in its final two at-bats, as Rugel nailed down the save.

Stonehill (25-16, 14-8 NE-10) will be back in action on Tuesday with a 3:30 p.m. game against division-leading Bentley University at Lou Gorman Field. Southern New Hampshire (32-11, 19-6) will hit the road on Tuesday for a contest at Franklin Pierce University before returning to Manchester to host Stonehill on Wednesday night in a makeup of Saturday's postponement.     

For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter and Facebook. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks mobile app on iTunes and the Android Market.