MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm baseball team opened its home season this afternoon by hosting the Bentley University Falcons in their fourth matchup of the season.  After playing into the 10th inning at Bentley last night, the Falcons' bats came alive this afternoon, soaring to a decisive 18-5 victory over the Hawks to grab a 3-1 edge on the season series.  The Falcons improve their record to 7-10 (2-0 NE-10), while the Hawks fall to 2-10 (0-2 NE-10).

Charlie Pagliarulo got the ball rolling early, leading off the top of the first with a single and scoring a run for the Falcons.  The Hawks responded with a leadoff walk and a run by Steven Panza (Watertown, Mass.) in the bottom of the first to tie the game at one.  The Falcons broke open the score in the top of the second inning, as the first five batters all scored off homeruns by Brett Damato and Charlie Pagliarulo, and the Hawks never recovered. 

The Falcons got a single, a double, and homerun in the top of the third before the Hawks replaced pitcher Sean Hayden (Haverhill, Mass.) with Timothy Cooney (E. Bridgewater, Mass.).  Cooney held the Falcons to just two earned runs through the next 3.2 innings, but in the top of the seventh inning, the Falcons tacked on five more runs off Mike Fantini (Haverhill, Mass.). 

The Hawks scored three runs off three two-out singles in the fifth inning, but they were unable to handle the productive offence of the Falcons, as they fell 18-5.  Despite the loss, James Garrigan (Plymouth, Mass.) had a strong outing at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored.  Matt Sucharewicz (Peabody, Mass.) also batted well, going 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI.

Falcon starter Rob Finneran pitched six full innings and picked up the win, while Sean Hayden took his third loss of the season.  The Hawks hit the road on Saturday, March 20th, to take on the Saint Rose Golden Knights in a doubleheader beginning at noon.