Box Score BOX SCORE
When and Where: March 18, 2018 – Northborough, Mass. (New England Baseball Complex)
Score: Saint Thomas Aquinas 4, Southern New Hampshire University 2
Records: STAC 12-5, SNHU 10-7
Senior Caleb Potter (Mentor, Ohio) and junior Joshua Zbierski (Stafford Springs, Conn.) each homered, but the Southern New Hampshire University baseball team lost the rubber match of a three-game series with 21st-ranked Saint Thomas Aquinas College, 4-2, Sunday at the New England Baseball Complex.
Southern New Hampshire went ahead in the top of the second inning, as Potter took one deep to make it 1-0.
In the bottom of the third inning, back-to-back doubles from Nicholas Lucchese and Giovanni Dingcong tied the game, before Anthony Shkrelja reached on what should have been an inning-ending groundout, but an error extended the frame and allowed Dingcong to score and give the Spartans a 2-1 lead.
Zbierski then pulled the Penmen even in the fifth, bashing a one-out home run to make it 2-2.
St. Thomas Aquinas reached senior starter Mitchell Powers (Portland, Maine) for the go-ahead run in the home half of the inning, as Anthony Maisano's one-out, bases-loaded fielder's choice put the Spartans in front, 3-2.
The Penmen had the bases loaded with one away in the sixth when a 6-4-3 double play thwarted the threat and kept it a one-run game. STAC would eventually take advantage in the seventh when Lucchese hit a two-out solo shot that extended the lead to 4-2.
Redshirt-junior John Stanton (Sandwich, Mass.) drew a lead-off walk in the eighth, but another inning-ending double play killed the potential rally for the Penmen, who then went in order in the ninth.
Powers (1-2) was charged with four runs – three earned – on seven hits, while striking out eight and walking four over six-and-two-thirds innings. Redshirt-sophomore Brendan Welch (Easton, Mass.) struck out one in a perfect inning-and-a-third.
Potter (walk, RBI, run) and Zbierski (RBI, run) were each 1-for-3, while sophomore Ethan Harris (Middleton, Mass.) and classmate Jake Coro (Johnston, R.I.) both went 1-for-4.
Notes:
- The home run for Potter was his fourth of the season, while it was the first of the year for Zbierski.
Up Next:
The Penmen are scheduled to return to action Wednesday, March 21 (3 p.m.) when they play host to Merrimack College in their home opener, but Penmen Field conditions will most likely prohibit this. Check snhupenmen.com and @snhupenmen social media outlets for information as it becomes available.
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