Skyhawks, Falcons Split A Pair
North Easton, Mass. - Stonehill and visiting Bentley split a doubleheader with the Skyhawks getting game one 8-3 and the Falcons taking game two, 7-2 on Saturday afternoon on Lou Gorman Field.
The Skyhawks now sit at 18-16 overall and 10-9 in Northeast-10 play, while the Falcons return to Waltham with a 14-22 overall ledger and 10-12 mark in Conference action.
In game one, Shane Franz (Cazenovia, N.Y.) broke open a 1-1 tie with a one-out, two-run double in the bottom of the eighth, opening the flood gates for the Skyhawks to score seven runs in the frame and take a 8-3 win. Javier Guzman (San Juan, P.R.) also provided a huge blow in the inning with a three-run double to right center.
Bentley closed the gap with a two-run homer in the ninth from Ross Curley, but reliever Dan Corrigan (Portsmouth, R.I.) settled down and got the final three batters of the inning to fly out to end the game.
Matt Giusti (Hopkinton, Mass.) threw four pitch of relief in the top of the eighth to earn the win. He relieved starter Nick SantaBarbara (Middleton, Mass.), who gutted out 7.2 innings, scattering 10 hits and yielding just one earned run, no walks and two strikeouts.
Nate Weber (Hanson, Mass.) had three hits and two RBI for Stonehill in game one, while Dave Fradette (Goffstown, N.H.), Franz and Guzman all had two hits.
Ricardo Sullivan took the loss for Bentley after going 7.1 innings, allowing seven hits and four earned runs.
The Falcons, holding a 3-1 lead in game two, scored four runs in the top of the sixth on just two hits, pushing them to a 7-2 win.
Starter Chris Dupay went the distance for Bentley, spreading out eight hits and two earned runs to improve to 3-4.
Justin Perry (Wilbraham, Mass.) started for the Skyhawks and lasted four innings, giving up four hits and just one earned run but walked four on 84 pitches.
Fradette was the only Stonehill player to record multiple hits in game two, going 2-for-4. Franz added an RBI and Brendan Shepard (Boxford, Mass.) collected his third triple of the season.
The Skyhawks and Falcons renew acquaintances in Waltham on Sunday for single game beginning at 1 p.m.