SAINT LEO, FLA. - The Saint Anselm baseball team took on the Saint Leo University Lions this evening in their second doubleheader of the season.  After a tough opening day at Eckerd College yesterday, the Hawks bounced back with a 6-2 victory over the Lions in game one, led by a complete game on the mound from John Healy (Cranston, R.I.).  The Hawks' defense struggled in the second game, as they fell to the Lions 18-5.  The Hawks are now 1-3 (0-0 NE-10) and the Lions are 5-11 (0-3 Sunshine St.).

Game One: Hawks 6, Lions 2
After three scoreless innings for both teams, Matt Stone (West Roxbury, Mass.) crossed the plate for the Hawks in the top of the fourth to put the Hawks up 1-0.  Four back-to-back Hawk hits in the top of the fifth inning, including two doubles, gave the Hawks a four-spot in the inning and a comfortable 5-0 lead for pitcher John Healy.  Healy gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth, but leadoff batter TJ Murphy (Reading, Mass.) scored an unearned run in the top of the sixth to regain the Hawks' five-run lead.  Healy allowed a leadoff triple to Ryan Gawrych in the bottom of the seventh, resulting in his only earned run in his first career complete game.  He struck out a career-high 10 batters, which is the most for a Hawk pitcher since the 2006 season.

TJ Murphy led off for the Hawks, playing in center field, and went 1-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base, and two runs scored.  James Garrigan (Plymouth, Mass.) started the game in right field, and went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run.  Designated hitter Robert Kelly (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) went 1-for-3 with an RBI, a walk and a run, batting in the third spot.  Daniel DeCoste (Chelmsford, Mass.), the cleanup batter, had a productive day, going 2-for-4 with a walk, a run, and three RBI.  Matt Sucharewicz (Peabody, Mass.) had two hits in four at-bats and added a walk, and Steven Panza (Watertown, Mass.) had a career day in the seventh spot, going 4-for-5 with a double and an RBI. 

Game Two: Lions 18, Hawks 5
The Hawks' pitching struggled in the second game, allowing 12 runs in the first two innings, and 18 total.  Robert Kelly started on the mound for the Hawks and allowed five runs in the first inning.  Mike Fantini (Haverhill, Mass.) came in in the second inning. He allowed a single to the first batter, but then picked him off during the next at-bat.  The second batter got on by a fielding error by third baseman Daniel DeCoste.  The Hawks got a second out before any runners crossed the plate, so although Fantini went on to allow seven runs in the inning, they were all unearned.  Fantini stayed in the game for the third inning and allowed two more runs.  Bret Bartlett (Duxbury, Mass.) came in in the fourth inning, and allowed four runs in two innings, and Eric Simm (Salem, N.H.) closed out the top of the sixth, giving the Hawks their first 1-2-3 inning.

Although Kelly struggled in his first outing on the mound, he helped himself out at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a homerun.  Sucharwicz had another good game at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a double, and Mike Garczynski (Fort Myers, Fla.) went 2-for-3 and hit a 2-run homer in the fourth inning.

The Hawks conclude their three-game series with Saint Leo tomorrow evening at 6:00 pm.