SAINT LEO, FLA. - The Saint Anselm baseball team completed a three-game series against the Saint Leo University Lions this evening.  The Hawks were leading the entire game, but they gave up the tying run in the bottom of the eighth and the Lions defeated the Hawks 11-10 in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the ninth.  The win lifts the Lions to 6-12 (0-3 Sunshine St.), while the Hawks fall to 1-4 (0-0 NE-10).

The Hawks took a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, when James Garrigan (Plymouth, Mass.) took his base after getting hit by a pitch.  Robert Kelly (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) moved him over to second with a single through the right side, and Daniel DeCoste (Chelmsford, Mass.) drove him home with a ball that was mishandled by the second baseman.  JC Suarez manufactured a run in the bottom of the first, as he walked to get on base, stole second, stole third, and was driven home by a bunt single by Ryan Brnovich. 

The Hawks' offense burst open in the top of the second inning, sparked by a leadoff homerun by freshman Rett Ostafin (Avon, Conn.).  Steven Panza (Watertown, Mass.) walked and Andrew Chandler (Westford, Mass.) singled up the middle.  Richie Manzi (Plymouth, N.H.) reached on a fielder's choice by the shortstop, who forced out Chandler at second base.  James Garrigan drove in Panza with a single to the left side to make it 2-1.  Robert Kelly doubled to center, driving home Manzi, and then Daniel DeCoste stepped up to the plate.  DeCoste ran the count to 1-1, before taking a big swing and sending the ball over the wall in center field for a three-run homer, and by the end of the inning, the Hawks were up 7-1.

After a solid first inning, Myke Fortier (Andover, Mass.) struggled in the bottom of the second, allowing four runs on three hits and two walks, to cut the Hawks' lead down to two.  The Hawks scored three runs in the top of the fourth, but the Lions scored two in the bottom of the inning off reliever Kyle Lavin (Shelton, Conn.) to keep the game close at 10-7.

Lion hurler Cody Johnson, who came in in the third inning and allowed the Hawks' three runs in the fourth, shut down the Hawks through the next three innings, allowing just three hits and no runs through the end of the seventh.  Lavin allowed two more runs to the Lions in the bottom of the sixth, to cut the Hawks' lead down to one run.  William O'Connor (Worcester, Mass.) pitched a scoreless seventh inning, but in the bottom of the eighth, a fielding error by Manzi led to an unearned run, tying the game for the first time since the first inning. Matt Smith held the Hawks' scoreless in the top of the ninth, so the game went to the bottom of the ninth, tied 10-10. 

Timothy Cooney (E. Bridgewater, Mass.), who started the eighth inning, allowed a leadoff double down the leftfield line to Ryan Powers.  Brnovich moved him to third with a bunt single, and then stole second to make it second and third with no outs.  Cooney struck out Nick Gill, but designated hitter Taylor McGillis came to the plate next and drove home the winning run with a single to right-center. 

Every Hawk batter had at least one hit in today's game, six of whom had a multi-hit game, including three hits by both Kelly and Matt Sucharewicz (Peabody, Mass.).  Matt Smith got the win, and Timothy Cooney took his first loss of the season.

The Hawks return to action tomorrow evening, when they take on Rollins College in a nonconference game beginning at 6:00 pm.