Senior Brenden Shepard hit 3-for-4 with a triple and run scored at the plate and then closed the game out with a 1-2-3 ninth on the mound. PHOTO BY Richard Orr.

Stonehill Drops UMass Lowell, 7-2

Skyhawks pull away late behind Galligan and Shepard

LOWELL, Mass. (April 12, 2010) – Stonehill College pulled away late in posting a 7-2 victory over the University of Massachusetts Lowell in Northeast-10 Conference baseball action at LeLachuer Park on Sunday afternoon.

Junior Brenden Shepard (Boxford, Mass./Masconomet) was the lone Stonehill batter with multiple hits as he finished 3-for-4 with a triple and run scored. He also closed the game out with a one-two-three ninth on the mound.

Senior Matt Skane (Mashpee, Mass./Mashpee) hit 1-for-3 with a home run, while sophomore Michael White (Lisbon, N.H./Lisbon) was 1-for-4 with a homer. Senior Mitch Davis (Bow, N.H./Bow) chipped in by hitting 1-for-4 with an RBI and run scored.

Sophomore Bryan Galligan (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) picked up the win (2-0) on the mound, allowing two earned runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and a walk over six-plus innings.

Sophomore Matt Jacobs (Hudson, Mass./Hudson) led UMass Lowell, hitting 2-for-4 with a stolen base and RBI. Freshman David Smith (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) was also 2-for-4, adding a double, while sophomore Mark Sanborn (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) batted 1-for-4 with an RBI.

Sophomore Bryan Galligan improved to 2-0 with six strong innings on the mound.

Sophomore righthander Dallas Nunes (Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames) took the loss (2-2) on the mound for the River Hawks, yielding three earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks over six innings.

Skane drilled his second home run of the season to open the scoring for Stonehill in the second inning. The Skyhawks added two runs in the fifth as White smacked his first home run of the season to right, before Shepard followed with a triple and scored on a single through the left side by Davis.

UMass Lowell got on the board with single runs in the sixth and seventh. Senior Jared Notargiacomo (Newburyport, Mass./Newburyport) led off the sixth with a double and later scored on a  two-out single to??? center by Sanborn. Senior Luke Wallace (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown Heights) led off the seventh with a double to left and then scored on single to center by Jacobs.

Stonehill broke the game open with four runs over its last two at bats. Junior Angelo Bruno (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) singled and scored on a two-out double to right by senior Shane Franz (Cazenovia, N.Y./Cazenovia) in the eighth. The Skyhawks scored three in the ninth as senior Rob Von Stein (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) scored on an error, classmate Ryan Healey (Lynn, Mass./Lynn English) had an RBI single and junior Nick Nardacci (Glenmont, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) drove in a run with a ground out.

Stonehill (14-11, 9-4 NE-10) and UMass Lowell (19-15, 7-9 NE-10) will conclude their two game NE-10 series on Wednesday at Lou Gorman Field in Easton, Mass., at 3:30 p.m.