MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College baseball team slugged seven home runs on the afternoon, using its offense to capture a doubleheader sweep of Saint Michael's College on Friday.
Saint Anselm posted its second shutout of the season in game one, blanking the Purple Knights by a 4-0 score before walking off with an 7-6 win in game two. The Hawks improve to 8-11 on the season and to 3-9 against Northeast-10 Conference opponents.
Sophomore Dylan Bedder (New Providence, N.J.) struck out a career-high 11 batters in game one, throwing eight strong innings and giving up just three hits on the day with no walks issued. Junior Andy Grygorcewicz (Northampton, Mass.) came on in relief, striking out a pair in one inning of relief to end the day.
Trailing from the fourth inning on, the Hawks used a walk-off home run by senior Max Silverman (Westford, Mass.) in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn a hard-fought 7-6 win to close out the day. The Hawks slugged four home runs in the game, finishing with seven home runs on the afternoon.
Saint Anselm has now hit 30 home runs on the season across just 19 games. From the 2016 season through 2019, the Hawks combined to hit 30 home runs across 179 games. The all-time team record of 45 home runs was set in 2001.
The last time Saint Anselm hit seven home runs in a doubleheader was Apr. 10, 2011 when the Hawks eased their way to victories of 13-1 and 10-0 against Merrimack at Sullivan Park.
The Hawks will host the Purple Knights for another doubleheader on Saturday, beginning with Senior Day at 11:50 a.m.
GAME ONE – Saint Anselm 4, Saint Michael's 0
Two strikeouts in the top of the first inning for Bedder set the tone for the game as the sophomore finished with 11 strikeouts on the afternoon. Baserunners were kept at a premium for the Purple Knights, who only stranded four runners on base in the game.
The Hawks pushed across a run in the home half of the first inning as lead-off man Brady Doran (Stony Brook, N.Y.) walked to start the game. He later stole second and third base, scoring on an RBI single off the pitcher by senior Salvatore Pezzolla (East Greenbush, N.Y.) for the game's first run.
Neither team would score throughout the remainder of the contest as Saint Michael's pitcher Ozzie Rodriguez threw seven innings, allowing just one run. However, the Hawks struck three solo home runs in the bottom of the eighth with Rodriguez having thrown over 100 pitches.
Doran lined a one-out home run to center field and, with two outs, sophomore Mike Pierro (North Andover, Mass.) and junior Kyle Maurice (Exeter, N.H.) hit back-to-back home runs for Saint Anselm in the home half of the eighth.
Grygorcewicz came on with a fine ninth inning of relief, retiring the side and locking down the four-run shutout victory for the hosts.
Pezzolla led the Hawks in game one with two hits before departing the game in the middle innings. Freshman Zack Clough (Newbury, Mass.) and sophomore Mike Borrelli (Salisbury, Mass.) each had hits in the contest.
GAME TWO – Saint Anselm 7, Saint Michael's 6
Saint Anselm scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning as Doran led off the game with a solo shot to right-center field. The Purple Knights got the No. 2 batter for the Hawks before Pierro added a home run to put Saint Anselm ahead by two. The third run scored on a wild pitch as Borrelli scampered home from third base.
Saint Michael's scored the game's next six runs, leading by as many as three runs heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. The first run came in the third inning as Iset Maldonado hit a ball that was carried by the wind to deep right field, putting him on third base to later score on an RBI groundout to shortstop.
With two quick outs in the top of the fourth, a fielding error by the Hawks set the stage for a big offensive inning for the Purple Knights. Three consecutive hits, including one for extra bases, plated three runs and gave Saint Michael's their first lead of the afternoon.
Saint Anselm put two runners on in the next half inning, but could not score them.
Saint Michael's pushed home two more runs in the top of the fifth inning as the first two batters reached on doubles. In total, the Purple Knights compiled three consecutive hits to start the inning before drawing back-to-back walks. When all was said and done, the Purple Knights finished the inning with the bases loaded, keeping the Hawks in the game at 6-3.
Pierro's second home run of the game led off the next half inning, the top of the fifth. A sacrifice fly by junior Dan Baker (Reading, Mass.) later in the inning scored yet another run. Down by one run in the bottom of the sixth, the Purple Knights danced around danger once again as two runners were left on base to conclude the inning.
In the team's last at-bats of the seven-inning affair, Clough led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk before Silverman connected on a booming shot to deep center field to end the contest. For Silverman, it was his first home run since homering at Paine on Mar. 6, 2019.
Senior Will Conaton (Windham, N.H.) got the start for Saint Anselm and struck out four batters in four innings. He was followed by junior David Hunter (Middleton, Mass.), who did not record an out to lead off the fifth inning – he was charged with two earned runs, giving up three hits and issuing a walk.
Freshman Will Hunter (Middleton, Mass.) relieved his brother in the fifth and finished the game, throwing three shutout innings and allowing just two walks and striking out three batters. On the season, Hunter has thrown nine innings with nine strikeouts, giving up just two hits on the year.
A trio of Saint Michael's pitchers allowed three earned runs in seven innings, striking out seven batters. The Purple Knights were led by 2-for-3 performances from Maldonado and Andrew Lanthier. Ulysses Luciano also had two hits, driving in two runs alongside Lanthier.
