Senior Nick Nardacci was 1-for-3 and drove in the Skyhawks lone run. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
King, Wright lead Setters to NE-10 win, game two of doubleheader postponed
Senior righthander Mackenzie King (Blairstown, N.J./North Warren Regional) went the distance on the mound to lead Pace to the win (4-4). He allowed the one earned run on just two hits with four strikeouts and four walks over seven innings. King faced the minimum through five innings and carried a no-hitter into the sixth before Stonehill strung together a pair of hits to score its lone run.
Senior Kenny Wright (Middle Island, N.Y./Longwood) paced the Setters offense as he hit 3-for-3 with a walk, three RBI and two runs scored. Junior Joe Lombardi (Briarcliff, N.Y./Briarcliff) was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored, while classmate Chris Roemer (Ardsley, N.Y./Ardsley) batted 1-for-5 with two RBI. Sophomore Robert Horn (Stamford, Conn./Westhill) chipped in by going 1-for-2 with an RBI.
Senior Nick Nardacci (Glenmont, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) led Stonehill as he hit 1-for-3 with an RBI. Sophomore James DeAlto (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y./Briarcliff) had the other Skyhawks hit, finishing 1-for-2.
Senior righthander Alex McCormick (Weymouth, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) took the loss (4-4), allowing five runs, all earned, on seven hits with four strikeouts and two walks over six innings.
Pace scored all the runs it would need with a four-run second inning. Junior Tyler Collins (Stamford, Conn./Trinity Catholic) was hit by a pitch and then Lombardi doubled before Wright drove them both in with a single. After junior Michael Liguori (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Chaminade) singled, Roemer delivered a two-run single with two out.
Pace added a single run in the fifth as Lombardi doubled with two out and scored on another single from Wright. Stonehill broke through in the sixth as junior Steven Popp (Unionville, Conn./Farmington) drew a one out walk, reached second on a throwing error by the Pace catcher on a failed pickoff attempt and then advanced to third when DeAlto produced the Skyhawks first hit of the afternoon with a single. Nardacci drove in Popp with an RBI single with two out and Stonehill would load the bases before King got out of the jam.
Pace added two more runs in the top of the seventh on RBI singles from Horn and senior Glen Johnson (Hobe Sound, Fla./South Fork) before another thunderstorm struck, ending the game.
Stonehill (30-16, 13-11 NE-10) is scheduled to close out the regular season tomorrow at Southern New Hampshire University at 1 p.m. Today's second game would be made up on Monday (Time TBA) with a Stonehill win tomorrow, while a loss would not impact the Conference seeding and will not need to be played as the Skyhawks own a potential tiebreaker with Saint Anselm College (23-22, 13-13 NE-10) due to a win over regular season champions Southern Connecticut State University.
Stonehill has clinched a spot in the upcoming NE-10 Tournament for the second-straight year and will play a first round game on Wednesday against an opponent to be determined. The Skyhawks will be seeded fifth with a win tomorrow and victory over Pace in a makeup game on Monday, while they would be seeded sixth with a loss.
Pace, pending a possible makeup of game two, closes its season out with a 16-28-1 record overall, including a 6-19 mark in NE-10 play.
