Junior Dan Fratus hit his first home run for Stonehill in the victory (PHOTO BY Richard Orr)

Fratus hits first home run as Stonehill tops Saint Michael's

COLCHESTER, Vt. (April 13, 2013) – The Stonehill College baseball team defeated the Saint Michael's College Purple Knights, 4-3 in a Northeast-10 Conference matchup Saturday afternoon at Doc Jacobs Field in Colchester, Vt.

Junior third baseman Dan Fratus (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) went 1-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and one RBI to lead the way for Stonehill. Junior Billy Karalis (Pawtucket, R.I./Bishop Feehan) and sophomore Matt Anziano (Belchertown, Mass./Belchertown) also notched RBIs on the afternoon for the Skyhawks.

Right fielder Nick Nelson (Spofford, N.H./Keene) went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI to pace the Purple Knights' offense. Sophomore George Buteau (Burlington, Vt./Trinity-Pawling School) also collected an RBI for Saint Michael's.

Sophomore Jim Duff (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) recorded his fourth win of the season in the victory. Duff went seven innings, giving up three runs (zero earned) on seven hits while striking out five. Sophomore Armand Rugel (Middletown, R.I./Middletown) pitched an inning and one-third of relief to earn his fifth save of the season. Rugel held the Purple Knights hitless and scoreless in the outing.

Barry Maily (Moosup, Conn./Plainfield) was tagged with the loss for Saint Michael's in an inning and two-thirds of relief. Maily gave up two earned runs on one hit and two walks. Andrew DuPrat (Fairfax, Vt./BFA-Fairfax) started and pitched 5.1 innings and earned the no-decision. DuPrat yielded two runs on seven hits and six walks while striking out four.

Sophomore Jim Duff collected his fifth win of the season in the victory (PHOTO BY Bert Lane)

Stonehill took an early lead with one run in the third inning. After James DeAlto (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y./Briarcliff) opened the inning with a walk, Karalis hit an RBI-double to center field, giving the Skyhawks a 1-0 lead.

The Skyhawks added to their lead with another run in the fifth. With no outs and no runners on, Fratus launched his first home run of the season to left field, giving Stonehill a 2-0 lead.

Saint Michael's fought back to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth. With Jacob Begnoche (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) on second and Alec Tice (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) third and two outs, Nelson hit a RBI-single to right center field to cut Stonehill's lead to one. Both runners scored when after a single by Buteau and an error by the right fielder.

The Skyhawks regained the lead in the eighth inning. Anziano tied the game when hit an RBI-single after junior Anthony Pagano (Cranston, R.I./Cranston West) hit a lead-off double. Anziano scored later in the inning on a wild pitch to make it 4-3 Skyhawks.

Rugel entered the game in the eighth to help close out the victory for Stonehill with 1.1 scoreless, hitless innings of relief.

The Skyhawks (18-12, 6-6 NE-10) and Purple Knights (8-18, 5-11 NE-10) return to action for a Northeast-10 Conference double-header Sunday afternoon beginning at 12:00 pm.

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