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Box Score 2 LOWELL, Mass. – Southern New Hampshire University extended its win streak to six games with a Northeast-10 baseball doubleheader sweep of UMass Lowell at LeLacheur Park Saturday afternoon, as the Penmen won game one 4-3 in 10 innings, then used a seven-run seventh in a 10-0 blanking in the nightcap. SNHU upped its record to 31-13 and 12-6 in the NE-10 Northeast Division, while the River Hawks are now 26-18 and 7-9 in the division.
With one hit in each game Saturday, senior Matt Boulter (Wrentham, Mass.) now has 189 career hits, tying him with Chris Hart (2002-05) for the program record.
In the opener, the Penmen pulled out their third straight extra inning triumph in league play. Zach Goldstein (Merrick, N.Y.) and Brendan O'Brien (East Bridgewater, Mass.) led off the 10th with back-to-back singles. Anthony Aceto (North Providence, R.I.) brought both runners home with a single to the gap in right center to make it 4-2. In the bottom of the 10th the River Hawks got a run back with two outs as Jimmy Ricoy doubled, followed by a single from Pat Devlin, however, Matthew Sanchez flied out to end the game.
After being held scoreless for eight innings, UMass Lowell forced extra frames by pushing two runs across in the bottom of the ninth. The River Hawks had the bases loaded with one out when Jacob O'Keefe delivered a two-run single to right that scored Sanchez and Devlin. With runners on first and third, SNHU reliever Alex Powers (Brewster, Mass.) was able to avoid further damage by striking out Pat Parker and getting Geoff DeGroot to fly out.
Southern New Hampshire staked itself to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third as Andrew Pezzuto's (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.) single brought in Goldstein. Goldstein scored again in the eighth as he led off with a single and after moving into scoring position on a sac bunt, came home on a single to left by Al Stanton (Sandwich, Mass.).
Goldstein led SNHU with a pair of hits in game one, while Devlin was 3-4 at the plate for UML. Powers, despite blowing the save, upped his record to 3-0 with his three innings of relief, allowing four hits and fanning two. Starter Jon Massad (Shrewsbury, Mass.) took a no-decision after holding the River Hawks scoreless for seven-plus innings, giving up six hits. Mike Sloban (1-3) took the loss for UMass Lowell after entering the game to start off the ninth.
In the nightcap, after scoring single runs in the first, fourth and fifth innings, the Penmen broke the game open with seven runs in the seventh, banging out eight hits against three River Hawk pitchers. The first seven batters in the frame notched base hits, with the big blow a two-run double by Tyler Poisson (Rochester, N.H.). Southern New Hampshire scored five times before the inning's first out, a sacrifice fly by Goldstein that plated Poisson.
Stanton was 3-4 for the Penmen in the nightcap as SNHU recorded 14 hits, while O'Brien, Poisson and Jon Minucci (Madison, Conn.) had two hits apiece, with Poisson driving in three runs. Andy Lalli (Lakeville, Mass.) drove in a pair of runs. Derrick Sylvester (Franklin, N.H.) worked around 11 hits allowed in seven innings of work to keep UML off the board while striking out four. David Gibson (Hanover, Mass.) worked a 1-2-3 eighth in relief, while Orlando Gonzalez (Montville, Conn.) and John Pickowicz (Hill, N.H.) preserved the shutout in the ninth.
SNHU and UMass Lowell wrap up their three-game season series Sunday in a 1:00 game at LeLacheur Park.
