WINTER PARK, FLA. - The Saint Anselm baseball team played two nonconference games against Northeast-10 opponents this afternoon to conclude the Spring Break trip to Florida.  In the first half of the doubleheader, sophomore Neil Hesek (Northboro, Mass.) completed a four-hit shutout to lead the Hawks to a 3-0 victory over Bentley and avenge yesterday's rough ending.  The Hawks then faced Stonehill, and while the pitchers combined to allow just one earned run, four Hawk errors led to a 4-1 loss.  The split puts the Hawks at 2-8 (0-0 NE-10), the Falcons are now 3-7 (0-0 NE-10), and the Skyhawks are 1-1 (0-0 NE-10).

Saint Anselm 3, Bentley 0
Sophomore Neil Hesek pitched his second career complete game this morning, allowing just four hits and striking out nine batters, to be the first Hawk since April 11, 2006, to throw a complete-game shutout.  The Falcons had just seven batters reach base, and none made it past second.

Falcon pitcher Dan Murphy had a shutout through five innings, but in the bottom of the sixth, James Garrigan (Plymouth, Mass.) got on base due to an error by the third baseman to lead off the inning.  Robert Kelly (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) walked, and after a strikeout by Daniel DeCoste (Chelmsford, Mass.), Matt Stone (West Roxbury, Mass.) loaded the bases with a single down the leftfield line.  Matt Sucharewicz (Peabody, Mass.) drove in Garrigan with a single up the middle, and Rett Ostafin (Avon, Conn.) scored Kelly on a single to right.  Steven Panza (Watertown, Mass.) then hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield, giving the Hawks a 3-0 lead at the end of the sixth.

The bottom of the sixth was the only inning the Hawks scored in, but that was all they needed, as Saint Anselm shut out Bentley 3-0.  Murphy gave up six hits, struck out 11, and allowed just one earned run, but Hesek's gem held off the Falcons, handing Murphy his third loss.

Stonehill 4, Saint Anselm 1
After a scoreless first inning, Ryan Healey led off the top of the second with a single up the middle.  John Healy (Cranston, R.I.) struck out the next batter, but Thomas Marino then moved Healey to third with a single to right field.  Healy then struck out the fourth batter of the inning, but not before allowing Healey to score from third on a balk, giving the Skyhawks an early 1-0 lead.

In the top of the fourth, Healey led off with a single to third base.  After Matt Skane struck out once again, Marino got on base with a ground ball to third base; Healey was safe at second due to a throwing error by Daniel DeCoste.  The next batter grounded out to second, but Brenden Shepard hit a two-out two-RBI single to the left side, making the score 3-0.

In the bottom of the fourth, Robert Kelly got on base with a one-out double to left field.  DeCoste moved him over to third with a single, and Matt Sucharewicz drove him in on a sacrifice fly.  However, this was the only run the Hawks' could manufacture, and another unearned run in the top of the eighth rendered the final score 4-1.

John Healy pitched six solid innings for the Hawks, allowing three runs, one earned, on five hits and a walk and striking out seven.  Myke Fortier (Andover, Mass.) pitched a scoreless seventh inning, allowing one hit. Mike Fantini (West Milford, N.J.) pitched out the top of the eighth, allowing a walk and an unearned run, and Matt Stone closed out the ninth, going 1-2-3 with a strikeout.  Skyhawk starter Eric Haughn pitched seven innings and allowed just one run on seven hits and three strikeouts.  Dan Corrigan closed out the final two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, and picking up his first save.

The Hawks have now concluded their Spring Break trip to Florida and will have some time off before NE-10 conference play begins.  The Hawks' next game is scheduled for March 16th on the road at Bentley.