MANCHESTER, N.H. – Sophomore Robert Kelly (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) homered and drove in four runs, but the Saint Anselm College baseball team came out on the losing end of an 11-10 battle against Bentley University in the team's regular-season finale at Sullivan Park on Tuesday afternoon.
The Hawks wrap up their regular season at 23-22 overall, including 13-13 in Northeast-10 play. It is the first time Saint Anselm finished the regular season above .500 since the 2003-04 campaign and is the first time they had a .500-or-better record in Northeast-10 play since 2005-06. The Falcons are now 14-26, 8-15.
After the Falcons grabbed a run in the top of the first with a sacrifice fly against Saint Anselm starter Joe Latino (Holden, Mass.), the Hawks responded with a pair in the bottom half of the inning.
Following a lead-off double by freshman Tito Lluberes (Lawrence, Mass.), senior James Garrigan (Plymouth, Mass.) singled to shortstop, but the errant throw to try and get him at first allowed Lluberes to come around and tie the game. A sac fly from senior Matt Sucharewicz (Peabody, Mass.) made it 2-1. The Hawks would go up 3-1 in the second on an RBI single to left off the bat of sophomore Andrew Chandler (Westford, Mass.).
After Greg Baggett homered leading off the fourth to tie the game at two, Saint Anselm went back on top, 4-2, in the bottom of the inning when the Falcons committed three errors that allowed a pair of runs to score.
Bentley made up for it in the fifth, however, with Nathan Witkowski hitting a two-out grand slam to left that put the Falcons in the lead, 6-5. Kelly responded in the bottom half of the inning, smoking a single back up the middle to score Garrigan, who led off the inning and stole second.
The game would remain tied at six until the ninth, when Bentley broke the game open with five runs. With one out and the bases loaded, Logan Gillis stung a single into center field that scored one run and broke the tie. Baggett (3-4, 5 RBI, 3 R) followed with his second home run of the day, a grand slam to left that put the Falcons ahead, 11-6. It was the first time in program history that Bentley hit a pair of grand slams in the same game.
The Hawks did not go away easily in the ninth, however, sending 10 batters to the plate as they clawed their way back into the game. Freshman Kyle Grumoli (South Hadley, Mass.) pinch hit and singled to short to lead things off. Lluberes followed with a single to left-center and was erased at second after Garrigan reached on a fielder's choice groundout that moved Grumoli to third. Kelly then came to the plate and deposited the second pitch he saw over the fence in center to make it 11-9.
After Sucharewicz grounded out to short, junior Daniel DeCoste (Chelmsford, Mass.) hit a ball down the line in left that looked to be an easy double, but was called foul. DeCoste improved on the next pitch, hammering it over the left field wall to cut the Saint Anselm deficit to just one.
Senior TJ Murphy (Reading, Mass.) followed with a sharp single to left and moved into scoring position after freshman Dan Lagasse (Londonderry, N.H.) was hit by a pitch. Sophomore Rett Ostafin (Avon, Conn.) faced a new reliever and hit a ball deep in the hole at short that he beat out at first to load the bases. That brought Grumoli back to the plate for the second time in the inning. After taking the first pitch for a strike, Grumoli drilled the next pitch he saw on a line to right, but directly at Chris Hardy, who made the catch to end the game.
Latino went 42/3 innings, giving up five runs – four earned – on seven hits. He struck out one and walked two. Senior Kyle Lavin (Shelton, Conn.) worked the next 21/3 innings, relinquishing Bentley's first grand slam to the first batter he faced. He was charged with one run on two hits. He struck out one and did not walk a batter. Junior Neil Hesek (Northboro, Mass.) allowed five runs on four hits over the final two innings of the game, while striking out one and walking one.
Despite a rough ninth inning, Dan Murphy earned the win for Bentley, giving up four runs on five hits and two walks over 22/3. Lamarre Rey picked up the save after giving up a hit over a 1/3 of an inning.
Kelly was 2-for-5 with four RBI and a run scored. Garrigan was 1-for-4, but drove in a run and scored three times. Lluberes went 3-for-5 and scored a run, while Murphy was 2-for-5 with a run scored.
This was the final regular-season contest for seniors Steven Panza (Watertown, Mass.), Sucharewicz, Garrigan, Murphy and Lavin. The Hawks will now wait out the final week of the regular season to find out their postseason fate.
