Zach Soulier pitched seven innings of three-hit baseball to earn his first win of the season (PHOTO BY Bert Lane) |
Pagano's two-run double leads Stonehill to opening-day victory
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (February 21, 2013) – The Stonehill College baseball team opened their 2013 season with a 2-1 victory over the LIU Post Pioneers Thursday night in the Ripken Experience Challenge at Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Junior right-handed pitcher Zach Soulier (Milford, Conn.) pitched seven innings of three-hit baseball to earn his first win of the season. Soulier registered eight strikeouts and only conceded one run in his debut. The junior retired the first nine batters he faced before allowing his first hit in the fourth.
Sophomore Armand Rugel (Middletown, R.I.) pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth inning to record the save for Stonehill. Rugel gave up two hits in the eighth inning, but retired the final four batters he faced to lock down the win for the Skyhawks.
Senior Bo Budkevics (Deer Park, N.Y.) was handed the loss for the Pioneers. Budkevics pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on two hits and five walks. The senior pitcher tallied nine strikeouts on the night. Sophomore Joey Arena (Yorktown, N.Y.) pitched two scoreless inning of relief for LIU Post, striking out three batters and giving up one hit.
The Skyhawks jumped out to a 2-0 in the first inning. Dan Fratus (Plymouth, Mass.) loaded the bases with a walk and Anthony Pagano (Cranston, R.I.) hit a double to right field, bringing in Billy Karalis (Pawtucket, R.I.) and Chris Hoyt (Walpole, Mass.) to give Stonehill the 2-0 lead.
The Pioneers made it 2-1 in the seventh when Tom Tolan (Malverne, N.Y.) notched an RBI single, knocking in Anthony Corona (Carmel, N.Y.). The Pioneers would get no closer as Rugel shut them down in the eighth and ninth innings to preserve the victory for Stonehill.
The Skyhawks play a double-header tomorrow afternoon against West Virginia Wesleyan College and Felician College. The game times for tomorrow's contest have been changed from 3:00 p.m and 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
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