Manchester, N.H. (April 9) -- Thanks to a 14-hit performance including two solo homeruns, the Saint Anselm baseball team defeated Saint Rose 11-3 on Wednesday afternoon at Sullivan Park in the team's home opener. The win improves Saint Anselm to 9-16, 5-9 in Northeast-10 action. The loss drops Saint Rose to 7-20, 5-7 in league play.

Saint Rose struck first, scoring a single run in the top of the first. Ryan Price (Binghamton, N.Y.) walked and Jake Perez (North East, Pa.) singled with one out, as both runners moved up a bag on an error to put runners on second and third. A Nick Polsinelli (Schnectady, N.Y.) single brought in Price, but the throw to the plate from Dave Wirkus (Orange, Conn.) cut down Perez trying to score on the play, keeping the damage to just one run.

The Hawks responded quickly, as Adam Hussey (Danvers, Mass.) jacked his first homerun of the year over the left field fence to tie the game back up at one apiece in the bottom of the inning.

The Hawks tacked on two runs in the second, as Ryan O'Rourke (Norwood, Mass.) and Ben Gunn (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) walked to open the inning, as O'Rourke moved up to third on the ball-four past ball. An Eric Baca (Franklin, N.H.) single brought in O'Rourke, then an Evan Kelleher (Haverhill, Mass.) sacrifice fly brought in Gunn, giving the Hawks a 3-1 lead.

The Hawks blew the game open in the third though, as Ryan Gargan (Byfield, Mass.) homered to left field with one out to put the Hawks up 4-1. Melvin Purdue (Jonesboro, Ga.) brought in O'Rourke in the inning with a single and Kelleher's two-RBI single down the left field line brought in Purdue and Gunn to put the Hawks up 6-1. Hussey then singled in Baca, who had singled earlier in the inning. Wirkus' walk brought in the last run of the inning, as Kelleher scored on the play, putting the Hawks up 9-1.

The Hawks tacked on a single run in the fourth on a wild pitch, scoring Gunn. The Hawks then tacked on another run in the sixth, as Baca brought home Ryan O'Rourke with an RBI single up the middle to put the Hawks up 11-1.

Saint Rose picked up a pair of runs in the seventh, as the Golden Knights finally got to a tiring Andrew Long (Danvers, Mass.) on the mound for the Hawks. After an error allowed Victor Tolentino (Santo Domingo, D.R.) to reach base, Brett Weber (East Schodack, N.Y.) doubled to put runners on second and third with no outs. A ground out from Perez brought in Tolentino, and a groundout from Sean Weber (East Schodack, N.Y.) brought in Brett Weber.

Long improved his record to 2-4 on the hill with a quality performance, giving up three runs, two earned, scattering eight hits and picking up one strikeout through seven innings of work. Mike O'Rourke (Norwood, Mass.) threw two innings of scoreless relief, allowing two hits and picking up one strikeout.

Jake Kozar (Norwalk, Conn.) suffered the loss for the Golden Knights, going 2.1 innings allowing eight hits and nine earned runs while picking up a pair of strikeouts, dropping his record to 3-2 on the mound. Daniel O'Leary (Kingston, N.Y.) threw 4.2 innings of solid relief, allowing just two runs on six hits with two punchouts. Marcus Luonello (Albany, N.Y.) threw a perfect ninth inning, picking up a strikeout along the way.

The Hawks are back on the diamond tomorrow, hosting American International at 3:30 p.m.