Gray earned his third win of the season and is now tied with junior Ryan Douglas for the team-lead in wins. (Photo Credit Mary Gettens).

EASTON, Mass. (April 27, 2024) – The Stonehill College baseball team earned a resounding, 11-5, win in game two of its three-game Northeast Conference series against Coppin State Saturday afternoon at Lou Gorman Field. With the win, the Skyhawks improve to 14-22 overall and 9-11 in conference play, while the Eagles drop to 12-22 overall and 11-12 against conference opponents.       

HIGHLIGHTS

• Senior classmates Trey Ciulla-Hall and Jack Marshall each belted homeruns for the Skyhawks.
• Ciulla-Hall launched his ninth, while Marshall registered his second of the season.
• Redshirt sophomore Sam Parks finished the day tied for the game-high with three runs batted in.
• Freshman Braydon Gray (3-3) earned his third win of the season after striking out two batters over 5.2 innings on the mound for the Skyhawks.
• Redshirt sophomore Damon Gaither and junior Daniel Moore launched solo homeruns for the Eagles.
• Gaither belted his eighth, while Moore recorded his second of the year.
• Junior Kai Holm paved the way for Coppin State at the plate, tallying three hits on the day.
• Junior Alek Elges (2-4) took the loss after allowing 10 runs on 11 hits over 5.0 innings of work.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Coppin State came out of the gates strong, loading the bases after the game's first three batters. Senior Sam Nieves followed an infield bunt single from Gaither with a bloop two-run single into shallow right field, scoring the game-opening runs and taking an early 2-0 run lead.

In the bottom half of the first, after postgrad left fielder Conor Kiely reached base with a single through the left side of the infield, Ciulla-Hall stepped into the batter's box and laced an RBI double into the left centerfield gap, cutting the early deficit to one heading into the second inning. Stonehill grabbed its first lead of the contest in the bottom of the second inning after a balk allowed Marshall to come home and score the game-tying run before Parks lifted a long fly ball out to right field, scoring freshman Ryan LeClair and giving the Skyhawks a 3-2 lead.

After a solo round-tripper off the bat of Moore kicked off the top of the fourth and leveled the game at three aside, Stonehill would open up the floodgates, pouring five runs on the board in the bottom half to regain its lead at 8-3. Timely hitting and smart baserunning fueled the Skyhawk's five-run half inning, as two RBI base-knocks from junior Dylan Zemotel and Parks, along with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ciulla-Hall made the score 7-3 in favor of Stonehill.

Redshirt junior Jack Thorbahn followed Ciulla-Hall's run-scoring fly ball with a dribbling single through the right side of the infield, allowing Parks to race over to third. However, before the play stopped, an errant throw by the Eagle's right fielder allowed Parks to capitalize on the miscue and score the Skyhawk's eighth run of the game. In the bottom half of the fifth inning, junior Taylor Gaspar led off the frame rocketing a double into left field. Marshall followed, sending a moonshot over the scoreboard in left, extending the Skyhawks lead to 10-3 heading into the sixth.

Following a bases-loaded walk drawn by freshman Christopher Marte in the seventh, Ciulla-Hall and Gaither traded solo blasts in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, to cap off the scoring. Despite Gaither's solo blast in the ninth, the Skyhawks' lead proved insurmountable, as Stonehill walked away victorious over Coppin State by a final score of 11-5.

Park matched his single-game career-high mark of three RBI on the day. (Photo Credit Craig Myers).

INSIDE THE BOX & NOTES

• Ciulla-Hall has been on a tear at the plate, launching six homeruns over his last nine games.
• Gaspar and Ciulla-Hall extended their on-base streaks to 19 and 22 games, respectively. 
• Ciulla-Hall, Marshall, and LeClair each registered a stolen base on the day for the Skyhawks.
• Parks matched his single-game career-high mark of three RBI.
• Freshman Zach Brockner and graduate student Billy Duff closed out the final 3.1 innings in relief for Stonehill.

UP NEXT

Stonehill (14-22, 9-11 NEC) wraps up its three-game NEC series against Coppin State at Lou Gorman Field on Sunday. First pitch between the Skyhawks and Eagles is set for a 11:30 a.m. start.  

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