PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – Joseph Levasseur turned in a strong outing in game two as the Saint Anselm College baseball team was swept 9-1 and 1-0 in seven innings in a doubleheader against St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday afternoon at St. Joseph's Complex.
St. Thomas Aquinas 9, Saint Anselm 1 | Box
St. Thomas Aquinas (12-4) pounded 15 hits and got seven shutout innings from Matt Kostalos to down Saint Anselm (2-12) 9-1 in the opener. Kostalos held the Hawks to five hits and did not walk a batter with 12 strikeouts for his second win of the year.
The Spartans scored one in the second and two in the third to lead 3-0 after four innings. St. Thomas Aquinas broke the game open in the fifth with four runs and added two more in the sixth to take a 9-0 advantage.
Five of the first six batters in the bottom of the fifth had hits for St. Thomas Aquinas, including a two-run single off the bat of Nick Pucciarelli, who was 2-for-4 in the game.
Greg Dawber and Nicholas Gargan each had two hits and scored twice, Deven Del Priore was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI and Joe Boland had two hits and knocked in two for the Spartans.
Matthew Flynn was 3-for-4 at the plate for Saint Anselm and combined with Ken Morrisino for five of the Hawks' eight hits in the game. Freshman Aaron Crandall picked up his first collegiate RBI with a two-out single to right to score pinch runner Colin Rios with two outs in the ninth.
Three pitchers worked in the game for Saint Anselm. Tom Hudon tossed the first five innings, Zane Byrne worked two and Autrey Gates fanned a pair of batters in the eighth.
St. Thomas Aquinas 1, Saint Anselm 0 (7 inn.) | Box
St. Thomas Aquinas won a pitcher's duel in game two, scoring the only run of the game in the third inning of a game that featured just eight combined hits in seven innings.
Joseph Pena singled to center to start the bottom of the third, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a ground ball off the bat of Greg Dawber. Pena and teammate Nicholas Gargan each had two hits in the win.
Saint Anselm threatened to tie or take the lead in the top of the seventh. With one out, Nick Bragole singled to left and Paul Trabucco reached on an error, giving the Hawks two on with one away. After a ground ball left runners at second and third with two outs, Bragole tried to score on a pitch in the dirt but was out at home to end the game.
Sam Vincenzo outdueled Levasseur by holding Saint Anselm to three hits and a walk in 6.2 innings with two strikeouts. George Navadel picked up his fifth save by recording the final out for the Spartans.
Levasseur fell to 2-2 this season despite allowing just one run on five hits and a walk in six innings. The junior struck out four and hit one batter.
Flynn made it a four-hit day for the Hawks by going 1-for-2 in the nightcap, joining Bragole and Trabucco with a hit in the loss.
The two teams play a single game on Sunday, March 20 at noon at St. Joseph's Complex.
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