When and Where: May 1, 2021 – Hooksett, N.H. (Penmen Field)
Game 1 Score: Southern New Hampshire University 14, Franklin Pierce University 5
Game 2 Score: Southern New Hampshire University 6, Franklin Pierce University 3 (7 inn.)
Records: SNHU 16-2 (16-2 NE10), FPU 14-6 (11-5 NE10)

Graduate student Marcus Chavez (Queens, N.Y.) went 4-for-5, was on base seven times and hit a game-tying home run in the bottom of the seventh inning of game two, as the 13th-ranked Southern New Hampshire University baseball team came from behind twice Saturday to notch a crucial doubleheader sweep of in-state rival Franklin Pierce University at Penmen Field. SNHU scored 11 times in the bottom of the eighth inning to flip a 5-3 deficit into a 14-5 win in game one, and then scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to earn a 6-3 walk-off victory in the second game.

LINKS: GAME 1 BOX SCORE | GAME 2 BOX SCORE

STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Graduate student Marcus Chavez (Queens, N.Y.) – 4-5, home run, 3 walks, 2 RBI, 4 runs
• Redshirt-junior Dakota Mulcay (Goffstown, N.H.) – 3-6, home run, 2 walks, 4 RBI, 2 runs
• Freshman Dylan O'Sullivan (Manchester, N.H.) – 3-7, double, home run, walk, 5 RBI, 3 runs
• Graduate student Joshua Goldstein (Haverhill, Mass.) – 3-7, home run, 3 RBI, 2 runs
• Redshirt-freshman Christian Mercedes (Providence, R.I.) – 3-8, triple, 2 RBI, runs
• Redshirt-junior Jeffrey Praml (Bridgewater, N.J.; 4-1) – 7.0 innings, 3 runs, 3 earned runs, 6 hits, 11 strikeouts, 3 walks (game 2)
• Freshman Trevor Anibal (Bedford, N.H.; 1-0) – 1.2 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 2 strikeouts, 0 walks (game 1)

KEY MOMENTS - GAME 1

• After Franklin Pierce scored twice in the second and fourth innings to take a 4-0 lead, Southern New Hampshire began to chip away in the fifth with an RBI single to left from Goldstein. A run-scoring single to center from sophomore Kieran Dowd (E. Islip, N.Y.) in the sixth made it 4-2 before Goldstein hammered a solo shot to center in the seventh to make it a one-run game.
• The Ravens added an insurance run in the top of the eighth to extend their lead to 5-3, but it would not matter as the Penmen bats fully awoke in the home half, scoring 11 times to flip the script. O'Sullivan drew a bases-loaded walk to pull SNHU within one before Mercedes followed with a two-run single to give Southern New Hampshire a 6-5 lead. Mulcay would highlight the inning with a grand slam to straightaway center, while O'Sullivan bookended the frame with another RBI on a two-out double to right-center.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE - GAME 1

• Mulcay was a perfect 3-for-3 with a home run, walk, four RBI and two runs scored.
• Goldstein went 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and pair of runs.
• Dowd finished 2-for-4 with a walk, RBI and two runs.
• Redshirt-junior Idelson Taveras (Lawrence, Mass.) was 2-for-5 with an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base.
• Chavez went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and three runs scored.
• O'Sullivan was 1-for-3 with a walk, two RBI and two runs.
• Mercedes went 1-for-5 with a pair of RBI and a run scored.
• Redshirt-junior Alex Gomes (Peabody, Mass.) started and allowed five runs on eight hits over seven-and-a-third innings, while striking out five and walking three, as he earned a no-decision.

KEY MOMENTS - GAME 2

• SNHU drew first blood in the bottom of the first on an RBI single off the bat of Chavez.
• A three-run homer to right-center from Jonel Ozuna put Franklin Pierce into the lead at 3-1 in the top of the fifth.
• In the bottom of the fifth, a bases-loaded walk to redshirt-junior Sam Henrie (Middleboro, Mass.) pulled the Penmen within one, but they would leave the bases loaded.
• The score stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh when Chavez crushed a one-out, no-doubter to left that tied the game at 3-all. Then, with two outs, a Henrie single and Dowd walk set the stage for O'Sullivan, who walked it off with an opposite-field, three-run homer to right.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE - GAME 2

• Chavez finished 3-for-3 with a home run, walk, two RBI and a run scored.
• Mercedes was 2-for-3 with a triple.
• O'Sullivan went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and a run.
• Redshirt-freshman Danniel Rivera (New Britain, Conn.; walk, two runs) and Henrie (walk, RBI, run, steal) were both 1-for-3.

NOTES

• Southern New Hampshire, ranked 13th in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II Poll, has now won 28 of their last 31 games dating back to last season.
• SNHU now leads the all-time series with Franklin Pierce, 44-40-1. It has won 12 of the last 14 meetings with the Ravens, who are receiving votes in the latest NCBWA DII Poll.
• The Penmen improve to 8-2 at home this season and are now 103-26 (.798) at Penmen Field since the start of the 2014 campaign.
• Mulcay's home run was his seventh of the season and the 21st of his career, which moved him into a first-place tie on the program's all-time home run list with Jon Minucci (2010-13).
• Goldstein's homer was his first of the year and fourth of his career, while Chavez' long-ball was his first of the season and third in a Penmen uniform. The walk-off dinger for O'Sullivan was the first of his career.
• Chavez extended his hitting streak to 11 games and has now recorded a hit in 15 of his last 16.
• Goldstein, who extended his hit streak to 10 in the first game, lost it in game two. He has hit safely in 13 of his last 15, while Taveras has hit safely in 12 of the last 14.
• The win for Anibal in game one was the first of his career.
• After going 0-for-11 to begin his career, O'Sullivan snapped out in a big way, finishing the doubleheader 3-for-5, including the walk-off in game two.

UP NEXT

• The Penmen return to action Sunday (May 2) when they play host to Franklin Pierce University in another noon doubleheader at Penmen Field.

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