Douglas

Douglas and Duff combine to toss three-hitter on mound as Skyhawks complete first NEC series win

HANOVER, Md. (April 16, 2023) – Stonehill College locked up the first Northeast Conference series win in the program's NCAA Division I history with a 4-1 victory over Coppin State University in NEC baseball action at Joe Cannon Stadium this afternoon.

Sophomore righthander Ryan Douglas and senior reliever Billy Duff combined to limit Coppin State to just three hits for the afternoon. Douglas (1-1) allowed an earned run while scattering two hits and three walks over seven innings with five strikeouts for the win (second career), while Duff shut the door for his first save of the season (fourth career), yielding a hit and two walks, with a strikeout over the final two.         

Swanholm had an RBI triple and scored a run for the Skyhawks today (PHOTO BY Jim Pierce)

More Highlights

• Senior Mike Swanholm continues to swing a hot bat for Stonehill, finishing 1-for-5 with a triple, RBI and run scored. He finished the three-game series in Baltimore with five hits, including a double, triple and home run, with four RBI.
• Senior Conor Kiely, who has now hit safely in seven-straight and 17-of-18 games, was 1-for-4 with an RBI, while junior Trey Ciulla-Hall was one of two in the game with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-5 with a double.
• Sophomore Taylor Gaspar chipped in with a pinch-hit RBI and later scored, while senior Chris Roberti belted a double and scored a run in three at bats.
• Sophomore Josh Hankins paced the Coppin State bats by hitting 2-for-3 with a double and RBI.
• Junior Tyler Nichol took the loss (0-3) on the mound for the Eagles, yielding two earned runs on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks, while hitting another three batters, over four innings.

How it Happened

• Coppin State grabbed a quick lead in the bottom of the first as junior Brett Curran drew a lead off walk and later scored on a two-out single through the left side by Hankins.
• Stonehill evened the score in its ensuing at bat with Swanholm's one-out triple to right center that scored Roberti who had reached on a hit by pitch.

• Ciulla-Hall had two hits for the Skyhawks, including a double (PHOTO BY Crystal Ayn Hagberg)

  The Skyhawks grabbed the lead in the fourth at the benefit of another hit by pitch, this time by junior Jack Marshall who would come around and score by stealing second, advancing to third on a single from sophomore Sam Kidder and then crossing the plate on a wild pitch.
• Stonehill picked up two insurance runs in the eighth as Gaspar drove in Swanholm, who reached on an error, with a one-out single up the middle, before scoring on a Kiely single through the left side with two away.
• Duff came on and then worked around a leadoff walk, with benefit from a double play, in the home half of the eighth, and then escaped two on with none out with another double play ball in the ninth, before ending the game with a strikeout.

Up Next

Stonehill (5-25, 3-12 NEC) is back in action on Tuesday, when it visits Harvard University for a non-conference matchup at 3 p.m., that will be broadcast digitally in ESPN+. The Skyhawks return to Lou Gorman Field next weekend for a three-game NEC series against Delaware State University starting Friday at 3 p.m. Coppin State (12-23, 5-10 NEC) visits Central Connecticut State University for an NEC series next weekend.

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