LANTANA, Fla. – The Southern New Hampshire University baseball team swept a pair of games from regional opponents Dominican (N.Y.) College and Wilmington (Del.) University Tuesday at the Santaluces Complex.  The Penmen outslugged the Chargers for an 8-7 win in game one, then downed the Wildcats, ranked as high as No. 7 nationally and No. 2 in the NCBWA East Region poll, by a 7-2 score.  The Penmen are now 6-3 on the season.

Against Dominican, Brendan O'Brien (East Bridgewater, Mass.) finished 3-5 at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI, while Anthony Aceto (North Providence, R.I.) went 2-4 while knocking in a pair of runs.  Tyler Fortanascio (Oradell, N.J.) also had a pair of hits.

SNHU held a 4-0 lead after five innings, but the Chargers scored five times in the sixth to take a 5-4 lead.  SNHU responded with four runs in the bottom of the frame to take an 8-5 lead.  Dominican scored twice in the top of the eighth to make it 8-7,but that is as close as they would come.

In the bottom of the sixth, Mike Mastroberti (Ramsey, N.J.) led off with a single, then Bryan Toland (Wildwood, N.J.) was hit by a pitch.  Fortanascio drove in Mastroberti with a double, then following a strikeout, Aceto tripled to bring home Toland and Fortanascio.  Aceto scored when the next batter, O'Brien, singled.

Ian Searles (Wareham, Mass.) earned the win after tossing an inning of relief, allowing four hits but not responsible for any runs after coming into a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the sixth.  Penmen starter Joe McCarthy (Nashua, N.H.) allowed five hits and five runs in 5.2 innings of work, striking out three but walking four.  Sam Fuller (Barre, Vt.) inherited a one-out, bases-loaded situation in the seventh and notched a pair of strikeouts to get out of the jam, while Ben Criscuolo (Branford, Conn.) did not allow a hit in 1.1 innings for his second save of the season.

In the nightcap, Manny Cruz (Wolcott, Conn.) went 4-5 at the plate, while O'Brien went 3-5 with a pair of RBI.  Riley Palmer (Goffstown, N.H.) went 2-5 with three RBI, including a two-run home run in the first to give the Penmen an early lead.  He also drove Cruz in with an eighth inning double.  Al Stanton (Sandwich, Mass.) also finished with two hits.

Southern New Hampshire held a 5-1 lead through four innings.  In the second inning, Mastroberti led off with a single and scored on an O'Brien single, while O'Brien would come home on a Cruz base hit.  In the fourth Alejandro Diaz (Old Bridge, N.J.) reached on an error and following a hit by pitch and a passed ball, scored on an O'Brien single.

SNHU's other run came in the seventh when O'Brien reached on a one-out single and scored on a Stanton base hit.

Freshman southpaw Mike Robert (Nashua, N.H.) went the distance on the hill and scattered five hits while striking out 10 and walking five.

Southern New Hampshire returns to action Wednesday night when it travels to Nova Southeastern University for a 6:00 contest.  The Sharks are ranked as high as No. 4 nationally.

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