Box Score BOX SCORE
RAPID REACTION WITH SENIOR MITCHELL POWERS
HIGHLIGHTS
When and Where: May 18, 2018 – Pleasantville, N.Y. (Finnerty Field)
Score: Southern New Hampshire University 7, University of New Haven 1
Records: SNHU 37-15, UNH 37-11
Two games, two starting pitchers that have gone the distance. Senior Mitchell Powers (Portland, Maine) duplicated the Thursday feat of redshirt-junior Jake Walkinshaw (Seymour, Conn.) by turning in a complete-game effort to lift the fourth-seeded Southern New Hampshire University baseball team to a 7-1 victory against the top-seeded and eighth-ranked University of New Haven on Friday at Pace University's Finnerty Field, improving to 2-0 at the NCAA East Regional Championship.
Southern New Hampshire advances to the winner's bracket semifinal Saturday (7 p.m.) against either second-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas College or third-seeded Le Moyne College. The winner will receive a bye Sunday and need just one win Monday to claim the regional crown. New Haven will play seventh-seeded Wilmington (Del.) University on Saturday (11 a.m.) in an elimination contest.
The Penmen seized an early lead in the top of the first, as back-to-back one-out singles from graduate student Thomas Buonopane (Peabody, Mass.) and senior Caleb Potter (Mentor, Ohio), followed by a deep fly ball to right from freshman Dakota Mulcay (Goffstown, N.H.), put runners at the corners with two out, before an errant pick-off throw to first allowed Buonopane to score the game's first run.
New Haven tied it in the home half of the inning, as a two-out single from Joe Caico plated Matt Chamberlain, who slide home safely, just ahead of a strong throw from left fielder, freshman Sam Henrie (Middleboro, Mass.).
Henrie then led off the second by belting a ground-rule double the other way, one-hopping it over the fence in left. A perfect sacrifice bunt from freshman Idelson Taveras (Lawrence, Mass.) moved Henrie to third with just one out, but he was stranded there.
Southern New Hampshire went back in front in the third as lead-off singles from Buonopane and Potter put Penmen at the corners with no one out before Mulcay drove a double off the wall in right-center that scored both runs and put SNHU up, 3-1.
The Penmen took advantage of a pair of errors in the fifth to widen the gap. Potter began the frame by reaching on a throwing error on what would have been a close call at first, with redshirt-senior Ryan Sullivan (Hopkinton, Mass.) drawing a walk two batters later. Henrie followed with an infield single to second, but after the fielder looked at second and then tried to get the out at first, the ball trickled away toward the dugout, allowing Potter to score the first run. Taveras immediately followed by lining a single up the middle to bring in two and open the lead up to 6-1.
SNHU added another run in the eighth when, following two quick outs, walks to redshirt-sophomore Joshua Goldstein (Haverhill, Mass.), sophomore Tom Blandini (Bow, N.H.) and Buonopane loaded the bases for Potter, who hit a hard ground ball the third baseman could not handle.
Powers allowed one run, as he scattered seven hits over nine innings, fanning six and walking just two.
Buonopane was 2-for-4 with a walk and scored a pair of runs, while Mulcay (two RBI), Potter (two runs) and Henrie (run) all finished 2-for-5. Senior Kyle Pangallo (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) went 1-for-3 with a walk, with Taveras going 1-for-4 with a pair of RBI.
Notes:
- Southern New Hampshire improves to 19-13 (.594) all-time in NCAA Tournament play.
- The Penmen won for the 18th time in 21 contests.
- The win snaps SNHU's three-game losing streak against the Chargers.
- Over his last four starts, Powers is 3-0 with a 1.16 ERA and two complete games. In 31 innings over that span, he has allowed just four earned runs on 20 hits, striking out 28 and walking only six, en route to limiting the opposition to just a .185 batting average.
- Potter has hit safely in 18 of his last 20 games, dating back to April 14, and has raised his batting average 82 points to .306. During that stretch, he is 33-for-79 (.418) with seven home runs, 25 RBI and 27 runs scored, while slashing .511/.759/1.270.
- Mulcay has hit safely in nine of his last 10, with Buonopane also picking up a hit in eight of the last nine.
Up Next:
The Penmen return to action at the NCAA East Regional on Saturday, May 19 (7 p.m.) against either St. Thomas Aquinas College or Le Moyne College.
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