MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm baseball team hosted the Assumption College Greyhounds this afternoon in their first of five matchups this season.  In an all-out pitchers' duel, the Greyhounds came out victorious, defeating the Hawks 2-0.  The win lifts the Greyhounds to 14-9 (4-3 NE-10), while the Hawks fall to 4-15 (2-6 NE-10).

In a battle of the hurlers, the game remained in a scoreless tie through the first seven innings.  The Greyhounds had their first chance to score in the top of the fourth inning, when Tim Scafidi got on base with a one-out single to right.  Drew Dombkowski followed him with another single to left, and Scafidi became the first player on either team to reach third base.  However, Tyler Lawson then grounded into a double play to end the inning.

In the bottom of the fourth, Matt Stone (West Roxbury, Mass.) led off with a double to deep center field.  Daniel DeCoste (Chelmsford, Mass.) got on base with a two-base error by the leftfielder, who dropped a fly ball at the wall to make it second and third with nobody out.  However, the Greyhounds managed to get a strikeout, a foul fly, and ground out, to strand the two Hawks and leave the score tied at zero.

Joshua Lafond (Goffstown, N.H.) reached third base in the bottom of the fifth inning with a two-out double followed by a balk, but he was unable to cross the plate either, and no Hawk even made it third in the remainder of the game.

In the top of the eighth inning, the game still scoreless, Blake Youngblood led off the inning with a single to third base.  Wally Derosier advanced him to second with a sacrifice bunt, and Derek Migrants moved him to third on a ground out to second.  Tim Scafidi then became the hero of the day, smashing an RBI double over the head of the centerfielder to send Youngblood across the plate for the first run of the game.  Drew Dombkowski then drove Scafidi home with a single to center to give the Greyounds a 2-0 lead.  The Hawks were then retired in order in the final two innings, as they fell to Assumption, 2-0.

Joe Green started on the mound for the Greyhounds, allowing two hits and no runs while striking out four in three full innings. Michael Colebrook pitched the next two innings, allowing two hits.  Frank Flynn ceded three hits in 1.2 innings, before Dan Evangelista relieved him in the bottom of the seventh to get him out of a jam.  Evangelista retired four straight batters and picked up his third win of the season.  Tim Dupuis notched his eighth save, throwing a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth.

Kyle Lavin (Shelton, Conn.) threw the first five scoreless innings for the Hawks, allowing four hits and throwing just 54 pitches to the 20 batters he faced.  Mike Fantini (Haverhill, Mass.) allowing one hit in the sixth inning, and Eric Simm (Salem, N.H.) did not allow a hit in the seventh.  Mike O'Rourke (Falmouth, Mass.) however gave up two earned runs on three hits in the eighth to take his first loss of the season.  Neil Hesek (Northboro, Mass.) allowed one hit and got the first two outs of the ninth, and John Healy (Cranston, R.I.) finished out the game, getting Youngblood to ground out to second base.

The Hawks return to action this Saturday, April 3rd, when they host the University of New Haven Chargers in a Northeast-10 doubleheader beginning at noon.