MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The No. 22 Southern New Hampshire University baseball team took two games at the Division II Northeast Challenge at the Ripken Experience Saturday.  The Penmen defeated No. 16 Mercyhurst 7-3 in the opener, then cruised past West Virginia Wesleyan 12-2 in the nightcap.

In the opener, Southern New Hampshire staked itself to a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth by taking advantage of a pair of home runs.  Jon Minucci (Madison, Conn.) opened the scoring with a solo blast, then after an Andy Lalli (Lakeville, Mass.) walk, Riley Palmer (Goffstown, N.H.) homered to make it 3-0.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Lakers loaded the bases on a leadoff single followed by back-to-back walks.  Starter Alex Powers (Brewster, Mass.) worked out of the jam only allowing one run by inducing a 6-4-3 double play, then registering a strikeout.

Southern New Hampshire tacked on another run in the fifth when Andrew Pezzuto (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.) reached on a one-out single, then proceeded to steal second, third and home.  After Mercyhurst grabbed a run in the fifth, the Penmen made it 6-2 in the sixth courtesy a two-run home run by Anthony Aceto (North Providence, R.I.).

Mercyhurst threatened in the bottom of the seventh, scoring a run and loading the bases with one out.  David Gibson (Hanover, Mass.) entered in relief and worked out of the jam by inducing a pop out and a fly out.

Powers, making his first start after spending his first two years as the closer for the Penmen, worked five innings, allowing five hits and two runs while recording a pair of strikeouts to pick up the win.  Jake Woodward (Lebanon, N.H.) allowed one hit and one run in 1.1 innings of relief before giving way to Gibson, who worked the final 2.2 innings to earn the save., allowing just one hit while fanning three.

Pezzuto led SNHU with a pair of hits in the opener as the Lakers outhit the Penmen 7-6.

In the nightcap, Southern New Hampshire jumped on West Virginia Wesleyan with four runs in the first.  After the Bobcats grabbed a run in the fourth, the Penmen scored twice in the bottom of the frame and five more times in the fifth to build a 11-1 lead.

Matt Boulter (Wrentham, Mass.) had three hits in the nightcap while Pezzuto had a pair of hits, with each recording three runs.  Tyler Gauthier (Lynn, Mass.) picked up the win, allowing one hit and two runs in five innings while fanning seven.  Stephen Fortuna (Metuchen, N.J.) worked two innings of hitless relief with two strikeouts before giving way to Ian Searles (Wareham, Mass.), who allowed one hit and fanned four the rest of the way.

Southern New Hampshire closes out the Northeast Challenge Sunday when it faces Chestnut Hill College in a noon game.