PEMBROKE, N.C. – The Saint Anselm College baseball team opened its 2023 campaign on Friday, falling to nationally-ranked UNC Pembroke by an 18-0 margin in nine innings.
Saint Anselm drops to 0-1 overall while the Braves, the No. 13 team in NCAA Division II, moves to 1-0 in its season opener played at Sammy Cox Field. The Hawks will face UNC Pembroke each of next two days, starting Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Braves posted five first-inning runs and had four more runs in the fifth, one more in the sixth, and a huge eight-run stanza in the seventh inning to account for the final score. UNC Pembroke touched Hawks pitchers for 18 runs on just 11 hits, taking advantage of four defensive miscues by Saint Anselm.
Eight members of the Saint Anselm starting lineup reached base, but the team was unable to string together a run-producing rally against the Southeast Region power. The Hawks left seven men on base in the game.
To cap a day of frustration for the Hawks, UNC Pembroke turned a game-ending triple play after the Hawks lined out to the Braves third baseman after the first two men reached.
Freshman Andrew MacDonald (Amesbury, Mass.) was the top pitcher for Saint Anselm, finishing the game with one-and-a-third innings of scoreless work in his collegiate debut, striking out two. Three other Hawks hurlers combined to yield 14 earned runs and issue 13 walks.
