Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 GAME 1 BOX SCORE | GAME 2 BOX SCORE
When and Where: April 3, 2016 – Springfield, Mass. (Bedard Field)
Game 1 Score: Southern New Hampshire University 13, American International College 6
Game 2 Score: Southern New Hampshire University 16, American International College 5
Records: SNHU 21-3 (7-1 Northeast-10, 5-1 NE Division), AIC 6-20 (1-10 Northeast-10, 0-4 NE Division)
Junior Manny Cruz (Wolcott, Conn.) went 4-for-7, was on base six times, scored four runs and drove in four runs as the 10th-ranked Southern New Hampshire University baseball team outscored American International College, 29-11, in a doubleheader sweep of a pair of seven-inning contests Sunday afternoon at Bedard Field. The Penmen posted a 13-6 win in game one and recorded a 16-5 victory in the second game.
In game one, Southern New Hampshire jumped out to a 1-0 lead quickly as junior Zach Goldstein (Merrick, N.Y.) started the game with a triple to right and scored on an RBI single to right from Cruz.
American International answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning against junior starter Ben Criscuolo (Branford, Conn.), as an RBI double to left-center from Chris Starcun and run-scoring singles by K.J. White and Reed Phillips put the Yellow Jackets up two.
SNHU sliced its deficit in half in the second as graduate student Ryan Gendron (Nashua, N.H.) drew a leadoff walk, stole second, went to third on a groundout from junior Derek Bauer (Millis, Mass.) and scored on a single to right from freshman Robert Fulkerson (Anaheim, Calif.).
The Penmen then erupted in the middle three innings to put the game away. Gendron's RBI double to left and Bauer's two-run single to right made up a three-run third that gave Southern New Hampshire the lead for good at 5-3.
SNHU hung a four-spot in the fourth as Cruz' run-scoring double to right, a two-run double down the left field line from fellow junior Carson Helms (Farmington, Conn.) and Bauer's RBI double to left-center opened the lead to 9-3.
The Penmen reached double digits in the fifth as freshman Joshua Zbierski (Stafford Springs, Conn.) led off with a double to left and scored on a single through the left side from classmate Christian Aybar (Cranston, R.I.). Aybar would later come around to score on a triple to center by graduate student Mike Mastroberti (Ramsey, N.J.) that stretched the advantage to 11-3.
Cruz added to the lead in the seventh with an RBI knock through the left side before Gendron's bases-loaded walk gave Southern New Hampshire a 10-run lead.
AIC struck for three more against Criscuolo in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by an RBI double to left from Tyler Geffert and another run-scoring single from White, but it was not nearly enough.
Criscuolo (5-0, 2.83 ERA) allowed six runs – five earned – on 11 hits, while striking out three and walking two in seven innings of work.
Cruz was 3-for-4 with a walk, three RBI and two runs scored, while Zbierski was also 3-for-4 with a run scored. Aybar went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, with Goldstein (walk, three runs), Helms (two RBI, two runs) and Fulkerson (RBI) all going 2-for-4. Bauer (three RBI) and Mastroberti (RBI, run) both batted 2-for-5. Gendron was 1-for-3 with a pair of walks, two RBI and two runs scored.
In game two, the Penmen picked up where they left off in the first game as they posted four runs on an error, two wild pitches and a Gendron RBI groundout. After the Yellow Jackets pushed one across in the bottom of the inning, SNHU plated one in the top of the third following a three-error inning for American International. AIC scored two more in the third on RBI singles from Geffert and White to trim its deficit to 5-3.
A Cruz a sacrifice fly in the fourth made it a three-run game before the Penmen busted it wide open with a five-run fifth that featured some sloppy baseball from the Yellow Jackets as they committed two more errors and a wild pitch that led to a pair of unearned markers.
Another wild pitch plated a run in the sixth, while a sac fly to center from sophomore Taylor Olmstead (Greenwich, Conn.) and an RBI single to center from Goldstein stretched the lead to 14-3. A solo shot from Phillips in the bottom of the sixth made it a 10-run game, but SNHU grabbed two more in the seventh on an RBI groundout by Aybar and the Yellow Jackets' eighth error of the game that made it 16-4. AIC would tack on one in the seventh.
Junior Alex Person (Foxboro, Mass.; 4-0, 3.28 ERA) allowed five runs – four earned – on 10 hits, while punching out six and walking one over seven innings.
Goldstein led the way, offensively, in game two as he was 2-for-4 with a walk, two RBI and a pair of runs scored. Cruz (walk, RBI, two runs), Helms (walk, two runs), Bauer (walk, run) and sophomore Andrew Lalonde (Bedford, N.H.; walk, two runs) were all 1-for-3.
Notes:
- The Penmen have won seven of their last eight.
- Southern New Hampshire is outscoring its opponents, 49-11, during its current three-game winning streak.
- Twelve of the 15 batters that received an at bat in the two games recorded a hit, while 11 scored a run and nine notched an RBI.
- SNHU pounded out 19 hits in the first game.
- Cruz has recorded a hit in 15 of his last 16 games.
Up Next:
The Penmen are back in action Tuesday, April 5 (5 p.m.) when they take on the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, in an exhibition contest at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium. The next home game for the Penmen is Thursday, April 7 (3:30 p.m.) against Post University.
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