MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Dave Kent (N. Falmouth, Mass.) turned in a complete-game quality start in game one and junior Ken Morrisino (E. Longmeadow, Mass.) hit a big three-run homer and made a trio of stellar defensive plays in game two as the Saint Anselm College baseball team swept a pair of cross-divisional games from Adelphi University on Sunday afternoon at Sullivan Park. The Hawks earned a 5-3 win in game one and rallied for a 4-3 victory in the second contest.
The Hawks, who pounded out 11 hits in each game, improve to 9-15 on the season, including 6-5 in Northeast-10 play, while the Panthers slip to 10-13, 7-6 NE-10.
Senior Mike Hayden (Cranston, R.I.) was 5-for-6 with a pair of walks on the day, while Morrisino went 4-for-9 with three RBI. Morrisino was caught stealing second base on a questionable call in the first game, snapping his streak of 20 consecutive stolen bases without being caught. The last time Morrisino had been gunned down was April 17, 2014.
Adelphi grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning of game one when a Nick Zito sacrifice fly to left plated an unearned run.
The Hawks answered in the bottom of the frame by putting together a three-run rally with two outs. Hayden began it with a two-out walk and then came home when fellow senior Joe Morin (Salem, N.H.) hit a fly ball to center that carried over the fence for his first dinger of the season. Sophomore Nick Bragole (Newburyport, Mass.) kept the good times rolling with a double to left-center before freshman John Marculitis (Shrewsbury, Mass.) singled him home to make it 3-1.
RBI singles from Bragole and Marculitis in the third stretched the Saint Anselm lead to 5-1. Adelphi chipped away in the top of the fourth against Kent when Robert Vani led off with a double to right, went to third on a Zito groundout and scored on Donato Signore's infield single.
The Panthers trimmed the gap to 5-3 in the sixth on Zito's run-scoring single through the left side, but Kent faced the minimum over the next two innings and then struck out the side in the ninth to end the game with the tying run on first base.
Kent (1-4) allowed three runs – two earned – on six hits, while striking out six and walking one over 9.0 innings.
Hayden was 2-for-2 with a pair of walks and a run scored, while Morin (two RBI, two runs), Bragole (RBI, run), Marculitis (two RBI) and freshman Shaine Carpenter (Florham Park, N.J.; run) were all 2-for-4.
In the second game, Adelphi again jumped out to a 1-0 lead with an unearned run off sophomore starter John Lavoie (Medford, Mass.) in the second inning as Signore led off with a triple and then scored when Eric Hassell reached on an error. The Hawks tied it in the bottom half when freshman Max Wadington (Burlington, Conn.) executed a suicide squeeze that plated Marculitis, who led off with a single through the left side.
An RBI double to left by Tyler Murphy in the fourth and a Vani solo shot to left-center in the fifth opened a 3-1 lead for Adelphi, but the Hawks went ahead for good in the bottom of the fifth. Wadington led off with a double to left and then safely slid under the tag at third when sophomore Matthew Flynn (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) reached on a fielder's choice. Flynn stole second, but it would not matter as Morrisino put a charge into a 1-1 pitch that he drove deep over the wall in right to put Saint Anselm on top, 4-3.
Sophomore Joseph Levasseur (Rowley, Mass.) pitched around a two-out triple by Murphy in the sixth, tossed a 1-2-3 seventh and faced the minimum in the eighth after getting out of the inning with a big double play.
Levasseur ran into trouble in the ninth, however, as he nailed down the first out, but then gave up back-to-back walks before exiting in favor of junior Seve Llanio (Glen Arm, Md.). Llanio's first batter he faced singled to center, but Morrisino, who made spectacular diving catches in the third and fifth innings, came up firing and cut down the potential tying run at the plate for the second out. Llanio then induced a game-ending grounder to short to give the Hawks the sweep.
Lavoie (1-1) gave up three runs – two earned – on six hits, while striking out one over 5.0 innings. Levasseur blanked the Panthers for 3.1 innings, allowing just a hit and two walks. Llanio allowed one hit in a scoreless 0.2 innings for his second save.
Hayden was 3-for-4 in the game, while Morrisino went 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored. Wadington was 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI.
The Hawks return to action Tuesday, April 14 at 6 p.m. when they take on fourth-ranked Franklin Pierce University. The next home game for the Hawks is Friday, April 24 at 3:30 p.m. when they play host to Bentley University at Sullivan. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter @STAHawks.
