MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm baseball team hosted the New Haven Chargers this afternoon in a Northeast-10 doubleheader at Sullivan Park.  The Hawks won the first game 5-1, led by impressive outings by TJ Murphy (Reading, Mass.) and John Healy (Cranston, R.I.).  Murphy went 3-for-4 with a double, a homerun, two runs scored, and two RBI.  Healy threw an eight-inning gem, allowing just three hits and one unearned run.  The Hawks' defense then struggled in the second game as they fell 7-4.  The Hawks are now 5-16 (3-7 NE-10), and the Chargers are 17-6 (6-4 NE-10).

Game 1: Saint Anselm 5, New Haven 1
After a 1-2-3 top of the first, Joshua Lafond (Goffstown, N.H.) led off the bottom of the inning with a bunt single.  Matt Stone (West Roxbury, Mass.) drove him in with a one-out double to left-center, giving the Hawks a quick 1-0 lead. 

In the top of the fourth, Stephen Clout started off the inning by getting hit with a pitch.  Kyle Donnelly popped up his attempt for a sacrifice bunt, but Cori Carr walked to make it first and second with one out.  Tom Bellaro then stepped up to the plate and laced a line drive up the middle.  However, shortstop Mike Garczynski (Fort Myers, Fla.) snagged it out of the air and doubled up Clout for a big inning-ending play to keep the Hawks up 1-0. 

The Hawks had their next opportunity to score in the bottom of the fourth inning.  After the first two batters went out, Daniel DeCoste (Chelmsford, Mass.) kept the inning alive with a single to left-center.  TJ Murphy followed suit with a two-out single to left, and James Garrigan (Plymouth, Mass.) loaded the bases after getting by a pitch.  Rett Ostafin (Avon, Conn.) then stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs.  Ostafin ran the count to 2-2, before striking out and stranding three.

The Chargers did not get a hit through the next two innings, and in the bottom of the sixth, Matt Sucharewicz (Peabody, Mass.) led off with a single to shortstop.  DeCoste flew out to center, but TJ Murphy then hit a bomb over the left-field wall to make it 3-0 Hawks.

Cori Carr led off the top of the seventh with a walk.  Ballaro grounded out to third, and then Jordan Kershaw hit a pop fly to shallow right field which went in and out of the glove of Steven Panza (Watertown, Mass.) to make it first and second with one out.  Jack Heary loaded the bases with a single to right-center field.  Joe Romanelli then hit a sharp grounder to second base.  Panza made a diving grab to save a hit and get the out at first, but Carr scored an unearned run on the play, to make it 3-1.

Garczynski hit a one-out double to left field in the bottom of the seventh, but he was picked off at second by relief pitcher Eric Peck to end the inning. 

The Chargers had another scoring opportunity in the top of the eighth.  Stephen Clout got on base with one out on a throwing error by third baseman Garczynski.  Kyle Donnelly made it first and second with a single to left field.  Cori Carr then hit a fly ball down the right field line.  James Garrigan made a nice play for the ball, and before Donnelly could get back, he threw down to first base for another inning-ending double play.

In the bottom of the eighth, DeCoste started the offense for the Hawks with a single to right. TJ Murphy then got his third hit of the game with a double off the wall in centerfield.  The Chargers intentionally walked Garrigan to load the bases once again for Rett Ostafin.  Ostafin, hoping to make up for his earlier at-bat,  drove a 2-2 pitch deep to right-center for a two-RBI double to make it 5-1.

John Healy pitched eight solid innings for the Hawks, allowing just three hits and one unearned run while striking out four batters to earn his third win of the season.  Healy currently leads the Hawks with a 1.37 ERA in 39.1 innings.  Neil Hesek (Northboro, Mass.) then pitched a scoreless ninth, allowing just a walk and drawing three groundouts.  Alex Smith pitched the first six innings for the Chargers, giving up three runs on nine hits and taking the loss.  Frank Vilacha drew a ground out and allowed a double in the top of the seventh.  Kyle Befus struck out the only batter he faced for the second out of the inning, and Eric Peck, after picking off Garczynski, allowed the final two Hawk runs on three hits and a walk in 0.2 innings.  Peter Jay then closed out the bottom of the eighth, retiring both batters he faced on infield pop-ups.

Game 2: New Haven 7, Saint Anselm 4
The Hawks started off strong once again in the second game, when Garczynski drew a one-out walk and got to second on a botched pickoff attempt.  Matt Stone then got on base due to an error by the first baseman, to make it second and third with one out.  Matt Sucharewicz hit an RBI double down the right-field line to score Garczynski, and DeCoste then drove in Stone on a sacrifice fly, as the Hawks opened the game with a 2-0 lead.

After going down in order in the top of the first, the Chargers' bats came alive in the second, as Kyle Pettoruto led off with a single to center field.  Jordan Kershaw flew out to center, but then Tyler Candage smash a fly ball over the wall in left-center to tie the game at two.

After two scoreless innings, David Wirkus led off the top of the fifth with a double to left-center.  Ryan Brockett made it first and third, getting on base with a bunt single to the third baseman.  Tom Rombilus hit a hard ground ball to Richie Manzi (Plymouth, N.H.) at short, who threw it to Eric Baca (Franklin, N.H.) behind the plate to get Wirkus out at home.  However, Shane O'Connell then hit a two-RBI double over the centerfielder's head to give the Chargers their first lead of the day.  Before the end of the inning, O'Connell scored on a passed ball, to make it 5-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth.

The Chargers tacked on another run in the top of the sixth inning off an RBI double by Brockett. 

Daniel DeCoste, looking to erase the Hawks' four-run deficit, got on base with a one-out double to right.  He was replaced on the bases by Andrew Chandler (Westford, Mass.), who got caught taking too large of a lead for the second out of the inning.  Eric Baca walked, and TJ Murphy picked up his third extra-base hit of the day, collecting a two-out RBI double to right center to make in 6-3.

Shane O'Connell picked up an unearned run in the top of the seventh inning, but the Hawks kept it close, by manufacturing a run in the bottom of the inning.  Manzi got hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.  Joshua Lafond then got on base with an infield single.  Garczynski made it second and third with a ground out to the pitcher, and Matt Stone scored Manzi with a ground out to first.  However Charger pitcher Taylor Candage drew a third ground out to strand Lafond on third and maintain New Haven's three-run lead. 

Hawk relief pitcher Mike Fantini (Haverhill, Mass.) retired the next six Chargers in order, as the Hawks went into the bottom of the ninth still trailing by three.  Garrigan led off the inning with a single to right field.  Manzi got on by a fielder's choice by the shortstop, who forced out Garrigan at second, but he then advanced to second on a throwing error by the second baseman, who tried to turn a double play.  However, closer Mitch Rossi then retired the final two Hawks to pick up his sixth save of the season in the 7-4 Charger victory.

Neil Hesek (Northboro, Mass.) allowed five runs on eight hits over five innings, striking out three.  Timothy Cooney (E. Bridgewater, Mass.) allowed one earned run on one hit in the sixth inning, and Myke Fortier (Andover, Mass.) ceded the seventh run, unearned, in the seventh inning.  Mike Fantini then finished out the game for the Hawks, throwing two perfect innings.  Vince Lehman allowed three runs, two earned, over 5.2 innings and picked up his second win of the season.  Taylor Candage allowed the fourth Hawk run on one hit in 2.1 innings, and Mitch Rossi allowed one hit in the bottom of the ninth, earning the save.

The Hawks continue their homestand on Tuesday, April 6th, when they host the River Hawks of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell in a Northeast-10 matchup beginning at 3:30 pm.