BOX SCORE
SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.V. - The Southern New Hampshire
University baseball team opened the 2009 season with a 13-5 loss to
Shepherd University at Fairfax Field Friday afternoon.
Shepherd improved to 4-3 on the season with the victory.
Skyler Byrd (Milford,
NH) led SNHU, going 2-4 with a two-run home run in the first inning
while recording his 100th career hit. Scott Strong
(Naperville, IL), Joseph Gargan
(Hudson, NH) and Eric Pelletier
(Beverly, MA) each had two hits for the Penmen. Matt McCarty
and Drew McCormick each had three hits and drove in three runs to
lead the Rams.
Southern New Hampshire staked
itself to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Tim Rines (Merrimack,
NH) would reach base with one out when he was hit by a pitch, and
after the next batter struck out, Byrd homered to center. The
home run marked Byrd's 100th career hit Shepherd
would tie the game in the bottom of the frame when Brian Collins
belted a two-run home run that scored McCarty, who led off the
inning with a single.
The hosts would take control of the
game by scoring three times in the third and four more times in the
fourth to build a 9-2 lead. McCormick hit a two-run home run
in the third, while McCarty homered in the fourth, part of five
hits the Rams would record that inning.
The Penmen added single runs in the
fifth, sixth and eighth. In the fifth, Byrd worked a two-out
walk and after a single by Gargan, came home on an error. In
the sixth, Chris
O'Neil (Chelmsford, MA) hit a two-out double then came
home on a triple by Rines. Pelletier scored in the eighth
when he led off with a single and later scored on an error.
McCarty earned the win on the hill
for Shepherd, working five innings and allowing five hits and three
runs. Ryan
Quinn (Lebanon, CT) took the loss for SNHU, allowing
11 hits in three-plus innings as the starter. The Rams banged
out 19 hits on Penmen pitching, while the guests had 10 hits.
Southern New Hampshire and Shepherd
are scheduled to play a doubleheader at noon Saturday.
