When and Where: May 7, 2021 – Worcester, Mass. (Rocheleau Field)
Game 1 Score: Southern New Hampshire University 5, Assumption University 3
Game 2 Score: Southern New Hampshire University 9, Assumption University 2 (7 inn.)
Records: SNHU 19-3 (19-3 NE10), AU 9-10 (9-10 NE10)

Redshirt-junior Dakota Mulcay (Goffstown, N.H.) went 4-for-9 and drove in a pair of runs, including the eventual game winner in game one, as the 11th-ranked Southern New Hampshire University baseball team swept a Friday doubleheader from Assumption University at Rocheleau Field to clinch the NE10 Northeast Division title. SNHU scored twice in the ninth to record a 5-3 game-one victory and then cruised to a 9-2 win in the second game.

LINKS: GAME 1 BOX SCORE | GAME 2 BOX SCORE

STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Mulcay – 4-9, double, 2 RBI, run
• Redshirt-freshman Danniel Rivera (New Britain, Conn.) – 4-7, 3 doubles, 2 walks, RBI, 3 runs, 3 stolen bases
• Redshirt-freshman Christian Mercedes (Providence, R.I.) – 3-7, double, 2 walks, RBI, 3 runs, 2 stolen bases
• Redshirt-junior Alex Gomes (Peabody, Mass.) – 7.0 innings, 2 runs, 2 earned runs, 4 hits, 4 strikeouts, 2 walks (game 1)
• Redshirt-junior Jeffrey Praml (Bridgewater, N.J.; 5-1) – 7.0 innings, 2 runs, 1 earned run, 7 hits, 8 strikeouts, 2 walks (game 2)

KEY MOMENTS - GAME 1

• Southern New Hampshire grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, as Rivera drew a leadoff walk, stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on Mercedes' single up the middle.
• After Assumption pulled even in the home half of the first, the Penmen went back in front, 2-1, on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Kieran Dowd (E. Islip, N.Y.) in the third.
• The Greyhounds again pulled even in the sixth, but SNHU moved ahead in the seventh on a two-out RBI single by redshirt-junior Sam Henrie (Middleboro, Mass.).
• The hosts would not go quietly, as R.J. Libby delivered a two-out solo shot to center that knotted the game, 3-3, in the bottom of the eighth.
• The Penmen answered again, however, with Mulcay's RBI double to right-center snapping the tie, before Dowd's run-scoring single to left added insurance and made it 5-3.
• Redshirt-sophomore Ricky Alexy (Needham, Mass.), who pitched the eighth, struck out the side in order in the ninth to end it and earn the win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE - GAME 1

• Mercedes went 2-for-4 with a walk, RBI, pair of runs scored and a steal.
• Mulcay (double, RBI, run) and Henrie (RBI) were each 2-for-5.
• Graduate student Joshua Goldstein (Haverhill, Mass.) was 1-for-2 with a walk.
• Rivera went 1-for-3 with a double, pair of walks, run and a steal.
• Dowd finished 1-for-4 with a pair of RBI and a steal.
• Alexy (1-1) collected the win by pitching two innings and allowing one run on one hit, while striking out four and not walking a batter.

KEY MOMENTS - GAME 2

• Mulcay handed the Penmen a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, as he singled home Rivera, who led off the game with a double.
• After the Greyhounds scored twice in the home half to take the lead, SNHU scored two of its own in the second, including one on an RBI double by Rivera, to grab a 3-2 lead.
• RBI fielder's choices from Dowd and freshman Dylan O'Sullivan (Manchester, N.H.), as well as a run-scoring single by redshirt-junior Idelson Taveras (Lawrence, Mass.), made up a three-run third that extended the SNHU advantage to 6-2.
• A two-run single by grad student Marcus Chavez (Queens, N.Y.) in the sixth added to the lead at 8-2, before an RBI double by Taveras capped the scoring in the seventh.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE - GAME 2

• Rivera turned in a 3-for-4 performance with two doubles, an RBI, two runs scored and a pair of steals.
• Chavez (2 RBI, run), Taveras (double, 2 RBI, run, 2 steals) and Mulcay (RBI) all went 2-for-4.
• Mercedes (double, walk, run, steal) and Henrie (run) were each 1-for-3.
• O'Sullivan finished 1-for-4 with a double, RBI and pair of runs scored.

NOTES

• Southern New Hampshire, ranked 11th in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II Poll, has now won 31 of its last 35 games dating back to last season.
• The Penmen clinch the NE10 Northeast Division title for the fifth straight season (no division winner was crowned in 2020). The team also earns the No. 1 seed for the upcoming NE10 Championship, claiming the divisional first round bye that comes with it. Southern New Hampshire will have Tuesday, May 11 off and will play host to the winner of the No. 4/5 game in the divisional semifinal Thursday, May 13.
• SNHU now leads the all-time series with Assumption, 37-21-2. It has won 24 of the last 26 meetings with the Greyhounds, including 19 of 20 and three straight.
• Chavez had his 13-game hitting streak snapped in game one and has now recorded a hit in 18 of his last 20, as well as 19 of 22 games this season.
• Mercedes has put together a seven-game hit streak, while Rivera has hit safely in five straight.

UP NEXT

• The Penmen wrap up the regular season Saturday (May 8) with another doubleheader against Assumption. The teams will play at Rocheleau Field at 11 a.m. and then cap the doubleheader at 3:05 p.m. with a game at Polar Park - the future home of the Worcester Red Sox, Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.

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