Manchester, N.H. (April 12) - The Saint
Anselm baseball team dropped a pair of games on Saturday afternoon
at Sullivan Park against Southern New Hampshire. The Hawks fell in
a 4-3 nailbiter in game one before dropping game two in 11 innings,
7-6. With the sweep, the Penmen improve to 6-20, 4-14 Northeast-10.
The Hawks drop to 10-18, 6-11 in league play.
GAME ONE
The Penmen jumped on the board in the top of the first with a
run and tacked on another run in the top of the fourth to take
a 2-0 lead. Skyler Byrd (Milford, N.H.) doubled in
Timothy Rines (Northfield, N.H.) in the first, who
had reached on a fielder's choice earlier in the inning.
Jeff Giannino (Beverly, Mass.) hit his second
homerun of the season in the fourth inning to put the Penmen up
2-0.
The Hawks came back to take a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning.
Matt Stone (West Roxbury, Mass.) got things
started with a double to lead off the inning. After a successful
sacrifice bunt from Melvin Perdue (Jonesboro, Ga.)
moved Stone up to third, Conor Amirault (Haverhill,
Mass.) brought in Stone with a double to center. Amirault
then came in on a Nick Moreau (Manchester, N.H.)
single. Moreau moved up to third on a failed pick off attempt, and
Adam Hussey (Danvers, Mass.) singled to bring in
Moreau and give the Hawks a 3-2 lead.
The Penmen came up with two runs to take a 4-3 lead in the
eighth inning. Chris O'Neil (Chelmsford, Mass.)
opened the inning with a single and stole second. Giannino walked,
and O'Neil and Giannino moved up a base with a sacrifice bunt from
Scott Strong (Naperville, Ill.). Koby
Thibault's (Salisbury, Mass.) sacrifice fly brought in
O'Neil to tie the game at three. Eric Pelletier (Beverly,
Mass.) then singled to bring in Giannino and take a 4-3
lead.
The Hawks threatened, loading the bases with one out in the
bottom of the eighth, but Mike Evans (Seabrook,
N.H.) got out of the jam with a groundout where the
catcher stepped on the plate for the force out and a strikeout to
end the inning.
Mike Fantini (Haverhill, Mass.) got the
no-decision on the hill for the Hawks, going seven innings. Fantini
allowed seven hits and two runs with three walks and five
strikeouts. Kyle Lavin (Shelton, Conn.) suffered
the loss in relief, dropping his record to 0-2 on the season. Lavin
threw the eighth inning, giving up two runs on two hits with a
walk. Mike O'Rourke (Norwood, Mass.) came to throw
a scoreless ninth allowing a hit and a walk.
Ryan Quinn (Lebanon, Conn.) picked up the win
for the Penmen, improving his record to 2-3. Evans picked up his
first save of the season throwing scoreless eighth and ninth
innings.
GAME TWO
This time it was the Hawks that jumped on the board early,
scoring a single run in the first and adding a pair of runs in the
second to take a 3-0 lead. In the first, Ryan Gargan
(Byfield, Mass.) doubled in Moreau, who had reached base
on a single to lead off the inning. In the second, Moreau hit a
sacrifice fly to bring in Matt Sucharewicz (Peabody,
Mass.). Hussey singled in Tim Murphy (Reading,
Mass.) later in the inning.
The Penmen brought in a pair in the third to cut the lead to
3-2. Byrd's sacrifice fly brought in Ryan Thompson
(Westford, Mass.). Then O'Neil's triple brought in
Bill Murray (Canton, Mass.).
The Hawks added a run to the lead in the fourth, as Hussey
singled in Murphy for the second time in the game. The Penmen
responded with another run in the fifth though, as Byrd's double
brought in Rines.
The Hawks extended the lead to 6-3 with two runs in the bottom
of the fifth. Eric Baca (Franklin, N.H.) brought
in Ryan O'Rourke (Norwood, Mass.) with a ground
out, and Murphy brought in Sucharewicz with a ground out.
The Penmen came charging back with runs in the eighth and ninth
to tie the game up at six. Brett Joy (Milford,
N.H.) had a sacrifice fly in the eighth to bring in Byrd
in the eighth. Byrd singled in Thompson in the ninth for the first
run, and O'Neil had a sacrifice fly for the second run, sending the
game into extra innings.
The Penmen put up a single run in the 11th to go ahead, and the
Hawks did not respond, ending the game in favor of the Penmen.
Another O'Neil sacrifice fly brought in the winning run.
Tim Ryan (Milton, Mass.) got the no-decision
for the Hawks, going six innings, allowing three hits and three
runs with a pair of strikeouts. David Giarrusso (Cranston,
R.I.) suffered the loss, going three innings, allowing
four hits and three runs.
The Penmen used six different hurlers in the game, with Evans
picking up the win to improve his record to 3-5, allowing one hit
over two innings and striking out two. Greg Lyons (Canton,
Mass.) picked up the save throwing two-thirds of an inning
with no hits and a strikeout.
The Hawks and Penmen are back in action tomorrow, as the Hawks
travel to Southern New Hampshire tomorrow for a 1 p.m. start.
