GAME 1 BOX SCORE | GAME 2 BOX SCORE

When and Where: February 25, 2017 – Myrtle Beach, S.C. (Ripken Experience)
Game 1 Score: Southern New Hampshire University 4, Queens (N.Y.) College 3
Game 2 Score: Southern New Hampshire University 18, Mercy College 2
Records: SNHU 3-1, Queens 1-3, Mercy 1-3

Redshirt-junior Taylor Olmstead (Greenwich, Conn.) went 3-for-7 with three extra-base hits, including a home run, and three RBI, while fellow juniors Jake Stearns (Plymouth, Mass.) and Ivon Clough (Dublin, N.H.) turned in stellar pitching performances as the sixth-ranked Southern New Hampshire University baseball team swept a pair of games on Saturday in the third day of the team's five-games-in-four-days trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Penmen edged Queens (N.Y.) College, 4-3, in game one and then erupted for an 18-2 pounding of Mercy College in the second game.

Junior Kyle Pangallo (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) was also 3-for-7 with three extra-base hits, two runs scored and an RBI, as was graduate student Zach Goldstein (Merrick, N.Y.), who knocked in two runs and scored twice. Senior Derek Bauer (Millis, Mass.) went 2-for-5 with three walks, a home run, two RBI and three runs scored, while sophomore Robert Fulkerson (Anaheim, Calif.) was also 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI and two runs scored. 

In the first game, senior Alex Person (Foxboro, Mass.) breezed through a 1-2-3 first inning before running into trouble in the second. The Knights went walk-single-single to open up the frame, but junior Sean Webster (Boston, Mass.) threw a strike to the plate from center field to cut down Jon Temenak, who drew the leadoff walk. Joel Mendez was then hit by a pitch to re-load the bases before a walk to Joe Morris pushed across the first run for Queens. A Bill Riches RBI single made it 2-0 before Person escaped the jam with a 5-4-3, inning-ending double play.

Southern New Hampshire sliced its deficit in half in the bottom of the frame when Bauer launched a solo home run to center. 

Stearns took over for Person in the third and allowed back-to-back base hits to begin the inning, but settled down and recorded a fly out and two pop outs to end the threat. That allowed the Penmen to grab the lead in the bottom of the frame as senior Cam Oliveira (Tewksbury, Mass.) led off with a walk and scored on a double from Webster to tie it before Goldstein's two-out, RBI single gave SNHU a 3-2 edge.

Stearns cruised through the fourth and fifth innings, with the Penmen giving him some insurance in the fifth when Pangallo tripled and then scored on a passed ball to nudge the lead to 4-2. 

Stearns again retired the side in order in the sixth to set down 12 straight before putting two on with no one out and dancing out of that jam unscathed. Stearns did the same thing in the eighth, but was not so fortunate as he was replaced by graduate student Stephen Fortuna (Metuchen, N.J.), who allowed an RBI double to Jose Pidoto that made it a one-run game. A walk would load the bases before an unassisted double play on a line drive to third and a pop up to the catcher preserved the 4-3 lead.

After Fortuna hit the first batter of the ninth, freshman Nick Artymowicz (Seaville, N.J.) entered and would load the bases with one out before ending the game with a 4-6-3 double play. 

Person was charged with two runs on three hits and two walks, striking out one over two innings of work. Stearns earned the first win of his Southern New Hampshire career as he allowed just one run on five hits over five-plus innings, while striking out one and walking one. Fortuna, while allowing an inherited runner to score, was not charged with a run and gave up a hit and a walk in his one-plus inning. Artymowicz picked up his first career save with a walk and a hit batter in a scoreless frame.

Goldstein went 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Bauer was 1-for-3 with a walk, run scored and RBI. Webster (run, RBI) and Pangallo (run) were each 1-for-4, with junior Caleb Potter (Mentor, Ohio) going 1-for-2 with a walk. 

In the second game, the Penmen went right to work against Mercy, putting up two runs in the bottom of the second as Pangallo doubled and scored on a Goldstein single before Potter's sacrifice fly to left with the bases loaded plated Goldstein.

Southern New Hampshire then went scorched-Earth in the second, hanging a nine spot to break it open. Pangallo's sac fly with the bases juiced opened the scoring before Olmstead scored on an error in the next at bat. Redshirt-junior Ryan Sullivan (Hopkinton, Mass.) followed with an RBI double to score Goldstein and make it 5-0. Fulkerson's two-run single opened the flood gates before junior Joshua Zbierski (Stafford Springs, Conn.) delivered the huge blow with a three-run homer that made the gap an even 10. Olmstead then tripled to right and scored on an error to expand the lead to 11-0.

The Penmen would not rest, putting up four more in the third. Sullivan led off with a triple and scored on a Bauer RBI knock before Olmstead ripped a two-out, three-run bomb to put his team up 15-0.

The Mavericks finally broke through against Clough in the fifth, pushing their first run across on an RBI groundout from Matt Nalbone.

SNHU added two more in the seventh on run-scoring singles from Zbierski and redshirt-freshman Joshua Goldstein (Haverhill, Mass.) to make it 17-1. A wild pitch brought home Mercy's second run in the eighth, while the Penmen capped the scoring on an RBI groundout from graduate student Dave Hoffman (Niskayuna, N.Y.) in the bottom half.

Clough (1-0) allowed two runs – one earned – on three hits, while striking out seven and walking one over eight innings. Redshirt-sophomore Mike Pineda-O'Donnell (Pennington, N.J.) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth and recorded a pair of punch outs.

Olmstead was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI, with Zbierski going 2-for-6 with three runs scored and four knocked in. Fulkerson finished 2-for-5 with a walk, two runs scored and a pair of RBI. Pangallo (run, RBI) and Webster (walk) were both 2-for-3, with Sullivan (two runs, RBI), freshman Phoenix Hernandez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and redshirt-junior Mason Eng (Plainview, N.Y.) each going 2-for-2 with a run scored. Bauer was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, two runs scored and an RBI.

Notes:
- After allowing the first two Queens batters he faced to reach in the third, Stearns – in his first appearance with the Penmen – retired 12-in-a-row before a leadoff single in the seventh broke up the streak.
- Southern New Hampshire pounded out 21 of the game's 24 hits against Mercy.
- Goldstein has recorded a hit in 20 straight games dating back to last season.

Up Next:
The Penmen close their Myrtle Beach trip Sunday, Feb. 26 (9 a.m.) when they take on the University of Bridgeport.

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