HOOKSETT, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College baseball team dropped its Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division opener in extra innings to Southern New Hampshire University by a 5-4 score on Wednesday.

The Hawks drop to 4-18 on the season with a 0-1 mark in conference contests while the Penmen improve to 16-8 overall and 5-0 in NE10 matchups. The teams are back in action with game two of their four-game conference series on Thursday, Mar. 30 with the first pitch slated for 3:30 p.m. from Penmen Field.

Senior Will Panarello (Barrington, R.I.) led the Hawks offense with two hits on the day while four other Saint Anselm student-athletes collected one hit apiece. Senior Brady Doran (Seneca, S.C.) drove in a team-high two runs. Doran and Panarello hit one home run each for the Hawks.

Junior Dallas Vaughan (Haverhill, Mass.) made his team-leading seventh start of the season on Wednesday and received a no decision after allowing three runs on seven hits in 6.2 innings pitched. Senior John Donovan (Lowell, Mass.) posted 3.0 innings pitched, allowing two runs on four hits in the losing effort.

The Hawks scored the game's first run after loading the bases on a walk, error, and a hit by pitch. Senior Matt Collins (Beverly, Mass.) would come across to score following a balk being issued on the Penmen. However, Austin Trumpour would work his way out of the jam, limiting the Hawks to just one run in the top of the first inning.

Southern New Hampshire knotted the score at one in the bottom half of the frame. Danniel Rivera singled to lead off the inning and reached second on a stolen base. Rivera would score after stealing third and advancing on a throwing error.

Panarello gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead in the top of the second inning on his team-leading fifth home run of the season, sending the ball over the left field fence.

Saint Anselm pushed its lead to 4-1 in the top of the seventh inning on a two-run homerun by Doran. Junior Richie Williams (Georgetown, Mass.) extended the inning with a two-out single to setup Doran's first big fly of the season.

The Penmen responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning. After a lead off solo home run from Jake Pisano, the Penmen would get a two-out double from Rivera which was followed by a single from Anderson Moreno that plated Rivera, making the score 4-3.

Donovan worked out of trouble in the bottom of the eighth inning to keep the Hawks lead at one. With runners on the corners and two outs, Donovan got a fly out to send the teams to the ninth inning.

Mike LaRocca tied the contest with a two-out home run in the ninth inning as the Penmen knotted the score once again, this time at four.

After a walk and a single, a wild pitch would push the winning run to third base. A single through the left side of the infield from Frankie DeMaro plated the winning run, giving Southern New Hampshire the 5-4 win.