Skyhawks combine for 20 hits in a game shortened by weather

Williams threw 6.0 innings for his second win of his career striking out eight

BOCA RATON, Florida (March 5, 2019) – The Stonehill College baseball team, who is ranked No. 7 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II East Region Poll, eased past Bloomfield College, 17-4, on Tuesday morning in Florida in a game that was completed in seven innings due to weather.

For Stonehill (6-4), four Skyhawks totaled three hits, including Matthew Rocco, Aidan Wilde, Rob Duarte, and Matt Donlan. Rocco went 3-for-4 with one run scored, 1 RBI, a walk, and a double, as Wilde swung 3-for-4 with three runs scored, 3 RBI, one walk, a double, ad his second homerun of the season. Duarte also went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, three RBI, one walk, and his second-career homerun, as Donlan was the final Skyhawk to swing 3-for-4 with two runs scored, two RBI, and a double. Sophomore Connor Williams threw 6.0 innings, while striking out eight batters for his second win on the mound.

Stonehill's 20 hits is the most hits in a game since April 2, 2016 when the Skyhawks defeated Adelphi University 16-8 totaling 22 hits.

The Bears (0-4) saw Darwin Tavarez and Justin Sanchez swing 2-for-3 at the plate, each scoring one run, as Tavarez tallied one RBI and Sanchez notched two RBI, for Bloomfield's only multi-hit players. Sanchez also tallied a double and a triple, while Tavarez stole a base. Gary Puente was the only other Bear to record an RBI as he went 1-for-2.

Williams retired the Bears in the top of the first inning, as the Skyhawks saw the first runner of the game in Rocco, but he was stranded on base. In the second inning, Stonehill saw three hits and three runs across home for a three-run lead, 3-0. Duarte led off with a walk and Patrick Downey tripled to score the senior, while William Kelleher launched his first-career homerun to left field with no outs.

Sabo launched his first homerun of the season and fifth of his career

Bloomfield tallied two hits in the third inning, but Stonehill kept them from scoring as Duarte added to the score with his second-career homerun in the bottom of the frame, 4-0. The Bears cut the deficit to one, 4-3, with three runs off of three hits in the top of the fifth, but Stonehill expanded its lead with six runs off of seven hits, two walks, and one hit by pitch in the bottom of the fifth, 10-3.

Bloomfield added one more run to the board in the top of the sixth as Tavarez drove in Kendon Strachan from second for a six-run deficit, 10-4. Before the game was called due to weather, Stonehill squeezed in five more runs, 17-4, including Wilde's second homerun of his career, which was a three-run shot to right field.

The Skyhawks face Queens (N.Y.) College tomorrow, Wednesday, March 6 in Palm Beach, Florida at the Santaluces Complex with a first pitch slated for 1:00 p.m.

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