Sophomore lefthander Michael White fired a two-hit shutout lead Stonehill to a 5-0 win to open the NCAA East Regional tonight. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
NCAA II TOURNAMENT EAST
REGIONAL
White, #4 Stonehill Blanks #3 New Haven, 5-0
Skyhawks open regional with
12th-straight win
behind White's two-hit shutout
NEW HAVEN REGISTER: "Five-run seventh helps Stonehill sink UNH"
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (May 13, 2010) – Fourth-seeded Stonehill College got a two-hit shutout from sophomore lefthander Michael White (Lisbon, N.H./Lisbon Regional) to key a 5-0 victory over third-seeded University of New Haven on day one of the 2010 NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament East Regional, hosted by Southern Connecticut State University, at Yale Field tonight.
Stonehill (30-16, 17-9 NE-10) advances to tomorrow night's winner's bracket matchup with second-seeded and No. 22-ranked Franklin Pierce University (37-14-1, 19-6-1 NE-10) at 7 p.m. The Ravens opened with an 8-1 victory over fifth-seeded LIU-C.W. Post (31-16-1, 22-8 NE-10) in today's second game. New Haven (31-14, 18-8 NE-10) looks to avoid elimination as it battles top-seeded and host Southern Connecticut State (36-11-1, 21-5 NE-10), ranked 14th nationally, who notched an 8-4 win over sixth-seeded Dominican (N.Y.) College (28-17, 15-5 CACC) in today's opening game, tomorrow at 3 p.m.
White went the distance to earn the win (6-2) on the mound for Stonehill, allowing just three baserunners on two hits and a walk with seven strikeouts over the nine innings. He was perfect through three and a third before allowing a one-out single in the fourth. White never allowed more than one base runner all night and none reached scoring position, yielding just another single in the sixth and walk in the eighth, which was quickly erased with a double-play.
Junior Scott Hackett hit 4-for-5 with a run scored to pace the Skyhawks ten-hit attack. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Junior Scott Hackett (Bangor, Maine/Bangor) paced the Stonehill offense, which racked up ten hits on the night against five New Haven pitchers as he finished 4-for-5 with a run scored. Senior Mitch Davis (Bow, N.H./Bow) batted 2-for-5 with a run scored, while classmate Shane Franz (Cazenovia, N.Y./Cazenovia) hit 1-for-3 with two RBI. Senior Ryan Healey (Lynn, Mass./Lynn English) and junior Angelo Bruno (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) each chipped in by going 1-for-4 with an RBI and run scored.
Junior righthander Matt Sommo (Clinton, Conn.) took the loss (1-1) in relief for New Haven, surrendering five runs, three earned, on three hits with three strikeouts and three walks in an inning and two-thirds. Senior righthander Vince Lehman (Groton, Mass.) started for the Chargers and scattered six hits and two walks over 4.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
Junior Tom Rombilus (Monroe, Conn.) and freshman Shane O'Connell (Cranston, R.I.) both hit 1-for-4 for UNH.
With White cruising, Stonehill finally rewarded him with a five-run seventh, loading the bases with back-to-back one-out singles from Davis and Hackett before White walked. Bruno followed by drawing a bases loaded walk to open the scoring and then the Skyhawks doubled their lead when Healey reached on an error credited on a bad hop at first base. Franz followed with a two-run single to left center and then classmate Rob Von Stein (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) drove in a run when he reached on a fielder's choice to cap the scoring.
White did the rest, retiring eight of the last nine batters he faced with no hits to close out the complete game shutout.
