PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Anselm College baseball team moved to 4-0 on the young season with a doubleheader sweep over the University of the Sciences on Sunday.
The Hawks open the season without a loss in their first four games, the squad's best start since the 1992 campaign. USciences falls to 0-6 with Sunday's defeats. Saint Anselm returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 29 in Auburndale, Fla., taking on Minn.-Crookston at 5:30 p.m.
Sophomore Logan Doran (Stony Brook, N.Y.) led the Hawks with three hits, smacking two doubles and launching a home run to finish with four runs batted in across the doubleheader. Classmates Enzo Merlonghi (Monroe, Conn.) and Drew Boli (Falmouth, Mass.) each drove in two runs as the Hawks used only eight hits to plate 12 runs on the afternoon.
Hawks pitchers threw 14 strong innings of work, conceding only seven hits on the day. Sophomore Taylor French (Goffstown, N.H.) picked up the win in game one, posting one-and-two-thirds innings of scoreless relief. Freshman Dylan Bedder (New Providence, N.J.) was the game two victor, pitching five innings while allowing only two hits on the day.
Saint Anselm has swiped 11 bases so far this season without being caught. The Hawks also have pounded 13 extra-base hits in just four games.
GAME ONE – Saint Anselm 5, USciences 2 (Box Score)
For the third consecutive game, USciences opened the game with a lead as Chris Anderson picked up a home run in the bottom of the first inning. The hosts went up 2-0 with an infield, run-producing single in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Hawks quickly drew the game even in the top of the sixth inning, breaking up the USciences no-hitter in progress with a two-run double by Logan Doran that tied the contest up. Merlonghi lofted a ball to left field in the next at-bat, posting a sacrifice fly to tie the game at two.
With the bases loaded in the next half inning, French came on in relief and got a strikeout and a fly out to extinguish the Devils threat. After Saint Anselm added three more runs in the top of the seventh inning, French got three outs in the bottom of the inning to secure the squad's third win of the 2020 season.
Sophomore David Hunter (Middleton, Mass.) earned the start, pitching four-and-two-thirds innings and allowing just two hits. Freshmen Avery Mosseau (Bedford, N.H.) and Travis MacMurdo (Tewksbury, Mass.) each made their collegiate debuts in relief, getting one out apiece, before French closed the door.
Hiro Mizutani struck out six batters for USciences, allowing only one hit in five innings, but issued six free passes to Saint Anselm batters. John Michael Sabatino was saddled with the loss, pitching the final two innings and yielding three earned runs.
GAME TWO – Saint Anselm 7, USciences 3 (Box Score)
Logan Doran stroked a three-run home run, the first of his career, to open the game, giving the Hawks a three-run cushion in the top of the first inning. Despite USciences scoring two runs in the bottom of the frame, the Hawks grew the lead to 5-2 with a two-run double by Boli in the top of the third.
The Devils got a run back in the bottom of the fifth inning, but a solo shot by freshman Mike Borrelli (Salisbury, Mass.), his first career long ball, in the top of the sixth inning fueled a two-run inning that later saw sophomore Chris Schworer (Medfield, Mass.) come all the way around from second base after an error by the Devils catcher.
Bedder pitched five innings, allowing just two hits in his first career appearance for the Hawks. Freshmen Harry MacKinlay (Norwell, Mass.) and Tyler Wudyka (Sandwich, Mass.) relieved Bedder, combining for two scoreless innings with only 20 pitches thrown.
Cole Markley was the losing pitcher for USciences, throwing five-and-two-thirds innings and allowing seven runs. Ryan Hess pitched a strong inning-and-a-third in relief, not allowing a baserunner.
