Box Score MANCHESTER, N.H. – No. 13 Southern New Hampshire University banged out 17 hits and two team members tied or broke career program records as it posted a 14-10 Northeast-10 baseball victory over Saint Anselm College at Penmen Field Wednesday afternoon. The Penmen won their third straight to improve to 19-6 and 3-2 in the NE-10's Northeast Division, while the Hawks are 8-15-1 and 0-4 in divisional play.
Junior Brendan O'Brien (East Bridgewater, Mass.) became SNHU's all-time stolen base leader with his sixth inning theft of second. His 54 career stolen bases are one better than Cliff Waite, who played from 1984-87. Senior Jon Minucci (Madison, Conn.) belted his 19th career home run to lead off the fifth inning, tying him with Jeff Weakes (1995-98) for the most in program history.
Saint Anselm took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, taking advantage of a pair of Penmen errors and getting three hits in the frame. The Penmen responded with four runs in the bottom of the first, with Al Stanton (Sandwich, Mass.) getting SNHU on the board with his single that plated Andrew Pezzuto (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.). Minucci was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, while an Andy Lalli (Lakeville, Mass.) single through the left side plated two runs.
The Penmen scored in five of the first six innings, scoring once in the second and fourth frames, three times in the fifth and five times in the sixth to open up a 14-7 advantage.
Matt Boulter (Wrentham, Mass.) knocked in four runs and was 3-4 at the plate, while Pezzuto was 4-4 with a walk, two RBI and a stolen base. O'Brien finished a home run short of the cycle as he was 3-5 with an RBI while scoring four times. All but one Southern New Hampshire starter had at least one hit on the afternoon.
Junior Mendez (Patchogue, N.Y.) upped his record to 5-1 for Southern New Hampshire, going six innings and allowing seven hits and seven runs (four earned) while fanning six. John Pickowicz (Hill, N.H.) and Ian Searles (Wareham, Mass.) each worked an inning of relief before Alex Powers (Brewster, Mass.) struck out the side in the ninth.
Joe Morin was 3-4 with two RBI to lead Saint Anselm at the plate while Robert Kelly was 2-4 with three RBI, including a two-run home run in the top of the fifth that cut the SNHU lead to one, 6-5.
The same two teams meet Thursday afternoon at Penmen Field in a 3:30 contest.
