Box Score BOX SCORE
When and Where: March 18, 2016 – Boca Raton, Fla. (Lynn University Baseball Field)
Score: Southern New Hampshire University 7, Southern Connecticut State University 6 (F/11)
Records: SNHU 14-1, SCSU 5-7-1
Graduate student Mike Mastroberti (Ramsey, N.J.) drove in the game-tying run in the bottom of the ninth and then plated the winning run in the 11th to lead the sixth-ranked Southern New Hampshire University baseball team to a 7-6 come-from-behind victory in extra innings Friday afternoon at the Lynn University Baseball Field.
Southern New Hampshire trailed, 6-1, entering the bottom of the eighth when it began to mount a comeback. Grad student Ryan Gendron (Nashua, N.H.) began it with a run-scoring single to left-center, while junior Derek Bauer (Millis, Mass.) followed with an RBI single through the right side that plated two with the help of an error by the third baseman. Freshman Kevin Alexy (Newton, Mass.) capped the scoring in the frame with an RBI knock down the left field line that trimmed the SNHU deficit to 6-5.
With runners at first and third and one out in the bottom of the ninth, junior Manny Cruz (Wolcott, Conn.) reached on a fielder's choice, but freshman John Stanton (Sandwich, Mass.) was cut down at the plate to keep it a one-run game with two outs. Mastroberti, however, would deliver a single up the middle to plate junior Zach Goldstein (Merrick, N.Y.) and knot the game.
Southern Connecticut had a chance to go ahead in the top of the 10th. Junior Ben Criscuolo (Branford, Conn.) entered the game with runners at first and second with two outs and gave up a single to Greg Zullo, but sophomore left fielder Taylor Olmstead (Greenwich, Conn.) charged the ball and threw a strike to the plate that was picked on a hop by freshman catcher Nathan Rossi (Hampstead, N.H.), who applied the tag to Ethan Joyce to end the inning.
The Penmen then threatened in the bottom of the inning as they had runners at the corners with one out, but Rossi hit a sharp grounder that was fielded by the third baseman, who tagged a diving-back-to-third Gendron and threw across the diamond to end the inning. Criscuolo then faced the minimum in the 11th to give SNHU a chance to win it with the bats.
In the bottom of the stanza, back-to-back walks from Goldstein and Cruz would put runners at first and second with one out for Mastroberti, who hammered a pitch to center that scored Goldstein with the game's winning run as the Penmen capped the comeback and started a new winning streak.
Goldstein was 4-for-5 with a walk and two runs scored, while Gendron went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a two runs. Mastroberti was 2-for-6 with a pair of RBI, with Bauer going 2-for-2 with a pair of walks, two RBI and a run scored.
Criscuolo (4-0) tossed one-and-a-third scoreless innings as he allowed two hits. Senior Tim Viehoff (Derry, N.H.) started and gave up four runs on six hits, striking out five and walking just one over six innings of work. Junior Alex Person (Foxboro, Mass.) relinquished two runs on five hits, while walking three and fanning one, in three-and-two-thirds innings.
Southern New Hampshire actually jumped on the board first back in the second inning on a sacrifice fly to right from Bauer, but the middle innings belonged to the Owls. Southern Connecticut tied it in the fourth on Zullo's double to center and then went ahead 4-1 in the sixth on Tyler Criscuolo's three-run double to right. Mike DeMarti added a two-run double to right-center in the eighth to expand the lead to 6-1 and set up the Penmen dramatics.
Notes:
- The Penmen have matched the best start in program history from the 2012 team that began the year 13-0, captured the NCAA East Regional crown and advanced to the College World Series in Cary, N.C.
- SNHU banged out 13 hits, with 11 of them coming from the eighth inning on, including five in the four-run eighth.
Up Next:
The Penmen are back in action Saturday, March 19 (2 p.m.) when they wrap up their Florida trip against 20th-ranked Lynn (15-9). The home opener for the Penmen is scheduled for Thursday, March 31 (3 p.m.) against Saint Michael's College.
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