2010 NE-10 BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
#4 Stonehill Captures Third NE-10 Title
Skyhawks Top #25 Franklin Pierce, 5-4 (10 innings)

Championship MVP Bruno's tenth-inning RBI double the difference as Skyhawks run through weekend with 4-0 record to earn automatic NCAA Tournament bid

Fourth-seeded Stonehill went a perfect 4-0 in capturing its third NE-10 Championship this weekend and first since 2000 with Sunday's win over second-seeded Franklin Pierce. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr)

RINDGE, N.H. (May 9, 2010) – Fourth-seeded Stonehill College, ranked fourth in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) East Regional poll, earned its third Northeast-10 Conference baseball championship by storming through the weekend with a 4-0 mark, capped by a 5-4 triumph over second-seeded and host Franklin Pierce University, ranked 25^th nationally, in ten innings at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field this afternoon.

Junior Angelo Bruno earned MVP honors for the NE-10 Championship and delivered the game-winning RBI double in the tenth. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr)

Stonehill (29-16, 17-9 NE-10), ranked seventh in the most recent NCAA Division II East Regional rankings, earns the Northeast-10 Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Baseball Championships. The Skyhawks, who will be making their second NCAA Tournament appearance, captured their third NE-10 title and first since 2000 when they also made their only previous NCAA Tournament appearance. Stonehill also won the championship in 1985.

Franklin Pierce (36-14-1, 19-6-1 NE-10) is a lock to earn one of three at-large NCAA Tournament bids from the East Region and could be named host of the six-team East Regional when bids are announced tonight at www.ncaa.com at 10 p.m.

Junior first baseman Angelo Bruno (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) delivered the decisive hit with an RBI double with two out in the top of the tenth inning that scored senior Mitch Davis (Bow, N.H./Bow) from third after he had reached base with a leadoff walk. Bruno was named the NE-10 Championships MVP for his efforts all weekend long and he was joined on the All-Championship team from Stonehill by junior Scott Hackett (Bangor, Maine/Bangor) and Brenden Shepard (Boxford, Mass./Masconomet).

Bruno finished 1-for-5 on the afternoon with his ninth double of the season. Hackett was 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI, while senior Rob Von Stein (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) batted 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored. Sophomore Michael White (Lisbon, N.H./Lisbon Regional) hit 2-for-5 on the afternoon.

Sophomore Michael Von Stein (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) picked up the win (3-1) in relief for Stonehill, allowing an unearned run on three hits with six strikeouts and two walks over 3.2 innings. Shepard shut the door on the title with a scoreless tenth, working around a hit and a hit batter, with two strikeouts for his fourth save of the season and third in four games over the weekend. Sophomore lefthander Matt Olsen (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) started for the Skyhawks and yielded three earned runs on just five hits with three strikeouts and two walks over 5.1 innings.

Senior Cody Kauffman (Blue Bell, Pa./ Wissahickon) paced Franklin Pierce as he hit 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI. Sophomore Isaac Wenrich (Westlawn, Pa./Wilson) batted 2-for-4 with a double, run scored and two RBI, while junior Eric Pearson (Webster, N.H./Merrimack Valley) finished 2-for-5 with an RBI.

Junior lefthander Brian Maloney (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) took the loss (3-4) in relief for the Ravens, surrendering the one run on a hit and walk with five strikeouts over three innings. Junior Rob Nicholas (Southborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional) started for Franklin Pierce and allowed three earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts and a walk over six innings.

Pearson and Maloney earned All-Championship Team honors for Franklin Pierce.

Franklin Pierce struck first win a run in the second as Wenrich singled with one out and later scored on a two-out single down the leftfield line by Kauffman. Stonehill got that run right back in the third when Rob Von Stein tripled to center with one out and scored on a sacrifice fly from Shepard.

Stonehill took its first lead of the game in the sixth when Hackett followed up a one out single up the middle by Davis with his second home run of the season to right. Franklin Pierce bounced right back in the home half to regain the lead. Wenrich belted a two-run double to tie the game and Kauffman added an RBI single to put the Ravens in front, 4-3.

Stonehill tied it right back up in the seventh as Rob Von Stein singled to left center and advanced station to station on wild pitches, scoring on the latter with two out. In the tenth, Davis led off with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Maloney got a strikeout and ground out, but Bruno followed with the game-winning double down the leftfield line.