Baseball Fights Back for 8-5 Victory Over Assumption

 

Rocco tallied his second double of the season and sixth RBI of his career

EASTON, Mass. (April 13, 2017) – The Stonehill College baseball team fought from behind to take an 8-5 victory against Assumption College Thursday afternoon on Lou Gorman Field.

For Stonehill (8-19-0, 3-7-0 NE10), Matthew Rocco (Newington, Connecticut/Newington) went 2-for-3 with two RBI, two runs scored and a double. Ben Monte (Shelton, Connecticut/Shelton) also tallied two RBI for the Skyhawks batting 1-for-4 with a double. Freshman Nathaniel Perkins (Whitman, Massachusetts/Whitman-Hanson) picked up his second win on the mound pitching 3.0 innings, allowing only one hit and striking out four.  

Perkins recorded his second victory of the year

Assumption tallied three hits in the top of the first and put runners on each base, but Jeremy Roberts (Reading, Massachusetts/Malden Catholic) got out of the jam with a fly ball to center field, leaving the game at zero.

Neither team was able to score a run in the first three innings, as Roberts and the Greyhounds' Kevin O'Connor held each side to two hits for the Skyhawks and three for the Greyhounds.

With one out, Matt Schneider singled to left field and R.J. Libby reached on a fielder's choice, giving Assumption a runner on first with two outs. Mike Schmidt reached first on an error by the centerfielder and Libby raced home to score the first run of the game, 1-0, in the top of the fourth.

Bowler kicked off the bottom of the fourth with a leadoff single through the right side, as Nicklas reached on a fielder's choice and Bowler advanced to second. Stonehill tied the game at one, 1-1, as Bowler crossed home on a wild pitch after advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt by Steve Lee (Braintree, Massachusetts/Braintree).

Assumption regained the lead after scoring two runs in the top of the fifth, 3-1, and O'Connor retired the Skyhawks leaving two runners on base in the bottom of the frame.

The Greyhounds scored another two runs in the top of the sixth, 5-1, as Libby homered to right field and Hunter Tralli doubled down the right field line to score Philip Gaines from second. Jared Brescia was called out on a relay from right field to home for the second out, as Roberts got Andrew Jaehnig to ground out for the final out.

Stonehill responded in the bottom of the inning with three runs of its own with one out. Lee launched a triple to right field and scored easily off of Rocco's double to center field. Minton hit a liner up the middle to advance Rocco to second and score Alex Hurley (Rumford, Rhode Island/Worcester Academy) from third. Still with one out, Monte reached on a fielder's choice and Rocco crossed home, cutting the deficit to one, 5-4.

The Skyhawks rallied in the bottom of the eighth, scoring four runs off of four hits. Alexander Joyce (Newton, Massachusetts/Newton North) started off the inning singling to right field and John Orzechowski (Monroe, Connecticut/Masuk) pinch ran and stole second. Hurley sent the ball over the right fielder's head for an RBI double, as Rocco followed up with an RBI single scoring Orzechowski and Hurley, respectively. With one out, Monte also doubled sending the ball to left field, getting Rocco to score from second. Monte ended up stealing second and scored off of Eddie Bowler's (Hingham, Massachusetts/Hingham) sacrifice fly to right field, giving the Skyhawks a three-run cushion, 8-5.

Perkins retired the Greyhounds in the top of the ninth, while he allowed his only walk of the game, but struck out Jaehnig and Stonehill's defense picked off Tralli trying to steal second. Perkins recorded his fourth strikeout, as Jake Byrne kept the bat on his shoulder and earned his second win of the year.

Stonehill hosts Southern New Hampshire University on Saturday, April 15 in a doubleheader on Lou Gorman Field. 

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