Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 GAME 1 BOX SCORE | GAME 2 BOX SCORE
RAPID REACTION WITH SENIOR CAM OLIVEIRA
When and Where: April 22, 2017 – Manchester, N.H. (Penmen Field)
Game 1 Score: Southern New Hampshire University 13, Bentley University 4
Game 2 Score: Southern New Hampshire University 2, Bentley University 0
Records: SNHU 28-7 (14-2 NE10, 9-1 NE10 NE), Bentley 8-21-1 (6-8-1 NE10, 6-4-1 NE10 NE)
Junior Caleb Potter (Mentor, Ohio) went 4-for-6 with two RBI and two runs scored, and redshirt-junior Jake Stearns (Plymouth, Mass.) spun a complete-game, four-hit shutout in game two as the fifth-ranked Southern New Hampshire University baseball team swept a pair of games from Bentley University on Saturday afternoon at Penmen Field. SNHU handled Bentley, 13-4, in the first game, before recording a 2-0 win in game two.
Southern New Hampshire wasted no time getting it started in game one as graduate student Zach Goldstein (Merrick, N.Y.) singled to the gap in left-center to lead off the first. After a walk to senior Derek Bauer (Millis, Mass.) two batters later, redshirt-sophomore John Stanton (Sandwich, Mass.) drilled a two-out single back up the middle to plate Goldstein with the game's first run. Potter followed with a sharp liner through the right side to score two more and extend the SNHU lead to 3-0.
Bentley pulled even in a big way in the third as a leadoff single from Christopher Butler and a two-out single by Ryan Berardino set the table for Austin Farry, who tomahawked a 2-0 offering from senior starter Alex Person (Foxboro, Mass.) high and deep down the left field line for a three-run home run.
The Penmen went ahead with an unearned run in the fourth as senior Cam Oliveira (Tewksbury, Mass.) hit a two-out single through the left side, went to second on what should have been an inning-ending groundout by junior Kyle Pangallo (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and advanced to third when the shortstop could not handle it. Pangallo then swiped second before junior Sean Webster (Boston, Mass.) hit a grounder past the dive of the third baseman that the shortstop came up with cleanly in the hole, but had no play on and Oliveira scored. Webster then stole second to put two back in scoring position, but both runners were stranded.
SNHU did more damage with two outs in the fifth as redshirt-junior Ryan Sullivan (Hopkinton, Mass.) hammered the first he pitch he saw on a line to left for a solo shot that made it 5-3.
The hosts added more breathing room by striking for three in the sixth. The Penmen led off the frame with singles from Potter and Oliveira before a walk to Pangallo loaded the bases with no outs. Goldstein's RBI groundout brought in the first run, with sophomore Kyle Ruth (Albany, N.Y.) dumping a two-run double into right that widened the gap to 8-3.
Southern New Hampshire tacked on five more runs in the seventh. Stanton began things with a check-swing double down the right field line before Potter was hit by a pitch and Oliveira walked to again pack the bases with no one out. Pangallo drove a sac fly out to right to plate Stanton, with Oliveira coming in on a wild pitch that made it 10-3. Walks to Webster and Ruth, sandwiched around a strikeout, loaded the bases with two out in the inning for Bauer, who drew a five-pitch walk to force in the 11th Penmen run. Sullivan followed with a nine-pitch at bat, finally popping up a pitch down the first base line, but the first baseman drifted back and dropped the ball, which allowed two runs to score before getting Bauer at the plate trying to score the third run.
Max Troiani added a two-out solo home run in the top of the ninth.
Potter (two RBI, two runs) and Oliveira (walk, three runs) were each 2-for-3, while Stanton finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Webster went 1-for-3 with a walk, RBI and run, with Goldstein and Sullivan each going 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Ruth finished 1-for-1 with a walk, two RBI and a run scored.
Person (7-0) went the distance, giving up four runs on six hits, while fanning six and walking a pair, in nine innings.
In game two, the teams combined for just five hits through the first five-and-a-half scoreless innings before the Penmen broke through in the bottom of the sixth. Goldstein led off with a single to center, moved to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third when a pickoff attempt squirted into center field and then scored when a balk was called on the Bentley pitcher.
Southern New Hampshire doubled its lead in the seventh as Stanton singled up the middle, went all the way to third on another errant throw on a pickoff try and scored on a single back through the middle by sophomore Joshua Zbierski (Stafford Springs, Conn.) to make it 2-0.
Stearns continued to cruise the rest of the way and was never really threatened.
Potter went 2-for-3, while Zbierski (RBI) and Stanton (run) each finished 1-for-3. Goldstein (run) and Pangallo were both 1-for-4.
Stearns (4-0) fired a complete-game, four-hit shutout, striking out six and not walking a batter over nine innings.
Notes:
- SNHU has now won 24 of its last 28, including 17 of 20 and 14 of 16.
- Person improves to 28-2 lifetime, including 17-0 over the last two seasons. He is 18-0 in his last 22 starts, dating back to May 15, 2015, as well as 25-1 over his last 30 starts since Feb. 21, 2015.
- Person has tossed three complete games in his last four starts. During that stretch, Person is 4-0 with a 2.91 ERA, allowing 19 hits to hold opponents to a .161 batting average, while striking out 21 and walking 11 over 34 innings.
- Person had retired eight straight prior to Troiani's homer in the ninth.
- Sullivan's home run was his fifth of the season, tying him with Bauer for the team lead.
- Stearns has now gone the distance in consecutive starts, while in his last three outings he is 3-0 with a 1.08 ERA over 25 innings, allowing 13 hits to hold opponents to a .157 average, while striking out 20 and walking just one.
- Stearns retired nine Falcons in a row on two occasions in game two.
- Game one lasted two hours and 11 minutes, while the official time of the second game was 1:49, for a total of four hours even. By comparison, the previous doubleheader at Penmen Field against the University of New Haven on April 9 took 8:04 to complete, with game one, alone, clocking in longer than it took to play the entire Bentley doubleheader at 4:27. In addition, 831 total pitches were thrown in the two New Haven games, while just 481 were hurled in the twin bill with the Falcons.
Up Next:
The Penmen return to action Sunday, April 23 (1 p.m.) when they wrap up the series with Bentley at Penmen Field.
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