GAME 1 BOX SCORE | GAME 2 BOX SCORE

When and Where: March 26, 2017 – West Hartford, Conn. (Fiondella Field)
Game 1 Score: Stonehill College 3, Southern New Hampshire University 2
Game 2 Score: Southern New Hampshire University 7, Stonehill  College 2
Records: SNHU 15-5 (3-1 NE10, 1-1 NE10 NE), Stonehill 6-11 (1-1 NE10, 1-1 NE10 NE)

Sophomore Joshua Zbierski (Stafford Springs, Conn.) crushed a three-run home run in game two and that was all the offense that was needed as senior Alex Person (Foxboro, Mass.) allowed just two runs in his start to help the seventh-ranked Southern New Hampshire University baseball team salvage a Sunday split with Stonehill College at the University of Hartford's Fiondella Field. The Skyhawks rallied for a 3-2 victory in game one, while the Penmen posted a 7-2 win in the second game.

Redshirt-sophomore John Stanton (Sandwich, Mass.) was a perfect 6-for-6 with two walks, a pair of extra-base hits, three RBI and two runs scored in the doubleheader. Junior Caleb Potter (Mentor, Ohio) went 4-for-9 with a run scored. 

Stonehill jumped on the board first in game two as Tyler Carey led off the bottom of the first with a walk and then scored on Ben Monte's single to make it 1-0.

The Penmen answered in a big way in the second as Stanton and redshirt-junior Ryan Sullivan (Hopkinton, Mass.) drew walks before Zbierski launched a three-run shot that instantly gave Southern New Hampshire a two-run lead. 

SNHU made it 4-1 in the third when Potter began a two-out rally with a base knock before Stanton tripled to bring him home.

Stonehill claimed one run back in the fourth as three straight singles to begin the inning from Harrison Sabo, Joe Klingensmith and Steve Lee plated the Skyhawks' second run. 

The scored remained 4-2 into the ninth when walks to redshirt-junior Taylor Olmstead (Greenwich, Conn.), graduate student Zach Goldstein (Merrick, N.Y.) and junior Kyle Pangallo (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) loaded the bases before Stanton's two-out double brought home a pair of runs. After sophomore Robert Fulkerson (Anaheim, Calif.) walked to re-load the bases, Sullivan was hit by a pitch to make it 7-2.

Person (3-0) allowed two runs on seven hits, while striking out three and walking a pair, in six-and-two-thirds innings. Graduate student Stephen Fortuna (Metuchen, N.J.) picked up his second save of the season as he struck out a pair in two-and-a-third innings of perfect ball. 

Stanton went 3-for-3 with two walks, three RBI and a run scored, while Goldstein was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run. Fulkerson finished 1-for-4 with a walk, with Zbierski (three RBI, run) and Potter (run) each going 1-for-5.

Junior Mitchell Powers (Portland, Maine) was dealing in the first game, as it was scoreless into the sixth when the Penmen loaded the bases for senior Cam Oliveira (Tewksbury, Mass.), who drove in the game's first run with a sacrifice fly to center that scored Stanton.

Southern New Hampshire doubled its lead in the eighth as Oliveira led off with a single, moved to third on a pair of groundouts and scored on a passed ball to make it 2-0.

Powers ran into trouble in the eighth as he had a pair of runners in scoring position with two outs until Eddie Bowler drove in the pair with a single up the middle to tie the game.

The Penmen had a pair in scoring position in the ninth with just one out, but could not plate the go-ahead run. Stonehill would make them pay in the home half as Lee led off with a solo blast that allowed the Skyhawks to walk off with the win.

Powers (1-2) allowed three runs on seven hits, while striking out 13 and walking just two, in eight innings.

Stanton was 3-for-3 with a run, while Potter went 3-for-4. Oliveira finished 1-for-3 with a walk, RBI and a run scored.

Notes:
- The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for SNHU, which has now won 11 of its last 13.
- The home run for Zbierski was his second of the season and third of his career.
- Person improves to 24-2 lifetime, including 13-0 over the last two seasons. He is 14-0 in his last 18 starts, dating back to May 15, 2015, as well as 21-1 over his last 27 starts since Feb. 21, 2015.

Up Next:
The Penmen tentatively return to action Wednesday, March 29 (3 p.m.) when they play host to Saint Michael's College.

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