Junior righthander Alex McCormick gets the ball on the mound tonight for the Skyhawks. |
Stonehill Set to Face
#22/24 Franklin Pierce
on Day Two of NCAA Regional
Fourth-seeded and NE-10 Champion Skyhawks look to ride momentum against second-seeded Ravens
Click here for NCAA East Regional Information
WEST HAVEN, Conn. (May 14, 2010) – Following the same roadmap that saw fourth-seeded Stonehill College capture its third Northeast-10 Conference Championship last weekend, the Skyhawks will follow up an impressive win over third-seeded University of New Haven last night with a matchup with second-seeded Franklin Pierce University, ranked 22nd in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association (NCBWA) Division II poll and 24th in the Collegiate Baseball magazine poll, on day two of the 2010 NCAA Division II Tournament East Regional, hosted by Southern Connecticut State University, at Yale Field tonight at 8:30 p.m. The game has been pushed back an hour and a half due to passing rain expected in the area late this morning.
Tonight will mark the third meeting between the two clubs in the last week and the fifth overall this season. The two teams split the four previous encounters this spring, but Stonehill won both matchups last weekend at the NE-10 Championships in Rindge, N.H., taking a 5-1 win over Franklin Pierce on day two of the tournament last Friday before edging the Ravens 5-4 in ten innings to clinch the Conference title and automatic bid to the NCAA Championships on Sunday. Franklin Pierce swept the regular season series, posting a 2-1 win at Lou Gorman Field in Easton, Mass., on April 20 before notching a 5-1 win in Rindge two days later.
Admission for all East Regional games at Yale Field this weekend will be $8.00 for adults and $5.00 for students and senior citizens. Southern Connecticut State will be providing live stats of all regional contests, by clicking the live stats link above. Franklin Pierce will offer a live audio webcast which is linked above as well.
Senior Mitch Davis carries a ten-game hitting streak into tonight's game, batting .372 during Stonehill's current 12-game winning streak. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Stonehill (30-16, 17-9 NE-10), making its second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, is the hottest team in the regional having won 12-straight after last night's 5-0 opening round win over New Haven behind a two-hit shutout from sophomore lefthander Michael White (Lisbon, N.H./Lisbon). He allowed just three base runners 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 (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. The Skyhawks rewarded White's pitching performance with a five-run seventh as senior Shane Franz (Cazenovia, N.Y./Cazenovia) keyed the inning with a two-run single.
Franklin Pierce (37-14-1, 19-6-1 NE-10) opened the regional with an 8-1 win over fifth-seeded LIU-C.W. Post on Thursday. Senior rightfielder Phil Hendricks (Pittsfield, Maine/Maine Central Institute) and sophomore first baseman Isaac Wenrich (Westlawn, Pa./Wilson) drove in two runs each, while junior righthander Jose Macias (Bronx, N.Y./Dewitt Clinton) started on the mound and allowed just one unearned run on six hits with six strikeouts and three walks over eight innings.
Stonehill ranks fifth in the Northeast-10 for team batting average (.278) and earned run average (3.20), ranking fourth in fielding (.966). During the Skyhawks current 12-game winning streak, they are hitting .272 with a 1.40 team ERA and .965 fielding percentage.
Junior first baseman Angelo Bruno (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk), a first team All-Conference selection, is hitting .297 (51-for-172) with 32 runs scored, nine doubles, a triple, ten homeruns (2nd NE-10) and 42 RBI (5th) with ten stolen bases this season. His ten homers this season are the most for any Stonehill player in the NE-10's wood bat era (since 2003) and he leads the NE-10 with 33 walks and has also posted a team-best 11 multi-RBI games and 14 multi-hit outings.
Senior Mitch Davis (Bow, N.H./Bow), a second team All-NE-10 pick, is hitting a team-best (13th) .315 (58-for-184) with 33 runs scored, 14 doubles (8th), four triples (3rd), two homers and 23 RBI. He leads the team with 18 multi-hit games, while his current ten-game hitting streak is the longest for any Skyhawk this season. Over the last 12 games, Davis is hitting .372 (16-43) with eight runs scored, two doubles, two triples, a home run and four RBI from the leadoff spot.
Junior Angelo Bruno leads the team in home runs and RBI. |
Junior righthander Alex McCormick (Weymouth, Mass./Cardinal Spellman), a third-team All-Northeast-10 selection this season will get the ball again for Stonehill against the Ravens. He is 6-3 (5th NE-10, wins) with a team-low 1.36 ERA (3rd) with 53 strikeouts and a mere six walks in 73.0 innings pitched (11th) over ten appearances, nine starts, this season. He leads all of Division II in walks per nine innings, averaging just 0.74 this season.
McCormick has faced Franklin Pierce twice this season, posting a 1-1 record and 1.69 ERA with 13 strikeouts and just two walks over 16 innings in the two starts. He picked up the win in last Friday's NE-10 Tournament encounter, allowing just an earned run on five hits with seven strikeouts and a walk over eight innings of the 5-1 victory.
Though not needed in last night's NCAA Tournament opener, Stonehill has gotten solid production out junior Brenden Shepard (Boxford, Mass./Masconomet) and sophomore Michael Von Stein (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull). Shepard closed out all four of the Skyhawks wins at last weekend's NE-10 Championship, saving three, and has made 13 relief appearances this spring, posting a 2-2 record with four saves (5th NE-10) and a 1.65 ERA, 16 strikeouts and five walks over 16.1 innings. Von Stein leads the team with 17 appearances (9th), posting a 3-1 record with five saves (4th), a 1.45 ERA, 19 strikeouts and 11 walks over 31.0 innings.
Franklin Pierce, winners of 11 of its last 14, leads the NE-10 in hitting (.306) and fielding (.971), while ranking third in team ERA (3.14). The Ravens have won three of the last four East Regionals and made four trips to the Division II College World Series in program history.
Hendricks leads the offense for Franklin Pierce with a .351 (68-for-194) batting average, 43 runs scored, 19 doubles, a triple, two home runs and 37 RBI with 12 stolen bases on as many attempts. Junior Mike Munoz (Bronx, N.Y./Lehman) is hitting .349 (66-189) with 45 runs scored, seven doubles, a triple, three homers and 27 RBI with 15 steals. Freshman Nick LaCroix (Grafton, Mass./Grafton) adds a .317 (58-183) average, 40 runs scored, 14 doubles, two triples, a team-best eight home runs and 45 RBI with 19 steals.
Junior Brian Maloney (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) is expected to get the ball on the mound for Franklin Pierce this afternoon. The lefthander is 3-4 this season with a 2.38 ERA, 74 strikeouts and just 15 walks over 56.2 innings in ten appearances, nine starts, this season for the Ravens.
Junior righthander Rob Nicholas (Southborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional) has made 22 appearances, 21 in relief, for the Ravens and is 4-1 with nine saves and a 3.00 ERA , 45 strikeouts and 14 walks over 42 innings.
The winner of tonight's game will advance to Saturday's winner's bracket semifinal, which would be at either 11 a.m., or 7 p.m., depending on how many teams are still alive following Friday's action. They would face either top-seeded and host Southern Connecticut State (36-11-1, 21-5 NE-10) if they eliminate New Haven in today's second game at 11 a.m., or the winner of Saturday's 11 a.m., elimination game tomorrow at 7 p.m.
The loser will play an elimination game tomorrow at either 11 a.m., or 3 p.m., depending on the number of teams left. The 11 a.m., game would be against Southern Connecticut State if they lose to New Haven this afternoon, while the 3 p.m., matchup would be against the winner of this morning's elimination matchup between fifth-seeded C.W. Post (31-16-1, 22-8 ECC) and sixth-seeded Dominican (N.Y.) College (28-17, 15-5 CACC).
The winner of the East Regional will advance to the NCAA Division II Baseball Championships in Cary, N.C., May 22-29, at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.
2010 NCAA Division II
Baseball Championships
East Regional
Hosted by Southern Connecticut State
University
Yale Field, New Haven,
Conn.
Thursday, May 13
Game 1: #1 Southern Connecticut
8, #6 Dominican 4
Game 2: #2 Franklin Pierce
8, #5 C.W. Post 1
Game 3: #4 Stonehill 5, #3
New Haven 0
Friday, May 14
(Games have been pushed back one hour due to
weather)
Game 4: #6 Dominican (28-17) vs.
#5 C.W. Post (31-16-1), Noon
Game 5: #3 New Haven (31-14) at #1 Southern Connecticut
(36-11-1), 4 p.m.
Game 6: #4 Stonehill (30-16) vs. #2 Franklin Pierce
(37-14-1), 8 p.m.
If four teams remain after Game 6, the
following schedule will be used:
Saturday, May
15
Game 7: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 11 a.m.
Game 8: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser, 3 p.m.
Game 9: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 7 Loser, 7 p.m.
Sunday, May 16
Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 9
Winner, Noon
Game 11: Game 10 rematch*, 4 p.m.
* Game 11 only necessary if Game 9 Winner wins Game
10.
If five teams remain after Game 6, the
following schedule will be used:
Saturday, May
15
Game 7: Game 5 Loser vs. Game 6 Loser, 11 a.m.
Game 8: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 3 p.m.
Game 9: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner, 7 p.m.
If two teams remain after Game 9, the
following schedule will be used:
Sunday, May
16
Game 10: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner, Noon
Game 11: Game 10 rematch*, 4 p.m.
* Game 11 only necessary if Game 8 Winner wins Game
10.
If three teams remain after
Game 9, the following schedule will be used:
Sunday, May 16
Game 10: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 9 Loser, Noon
Game 11: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner, 4 p.m.
