Junior Angelo Bruno belted three home runs as part of a 5-for-7 afternoon with seven RBI at AIC. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr)

Stonehill Sweeps American International

Skyhawks hold off Yellow Jackets for 9-8 win in game one,
ride Bruno's bat to 9-5 win in nightcap

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 3, 2010) – Stonehill College bounced back from four-straight losses to sweep a doubleheader from American International College in Northeast-10 Conference baseball action at AIC Park today. The Skyhawks withstood a ninth-inning rally to post a 9-8 victory in game one, before capping the afternoon with a 9-5 victory in game two.

Junior Angelo Bruno (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) had a huge afternoon for Stonehill, hitting a combined 5-for-7 with three home runs, a double, five runs scored, a stolen base and seven RBI for the afternoon. Junior Scott Hackett (Bangor, Maine/Bangor) hit 5-for-9 on the afternoon with a double and two runs scored, while sophomore Rich McHugh (Pembroke, Mass./Thayer Academy) was 4-for-9 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI.

Junior Dan Mooney (Bennington, Vt./LaSalle Institute) led American International by hitting 4-for-7 with a run scored and three RBI for the afternoon. Senior Dan Bassani (Naples, Fla./Naples) finished 4-for-8 with two doubles, two runs scored, a stolen base and an RBI, while junior Nicholas Devine (Springfield, Mass./Cathedral) chipped in with two home runs and four RBI.

Stonehill 9, American International 8 – Game 1
Boxscore

Stonehill held off a late American International rally in the ninth inning to claim a 9-8 victory in game one.

Angelo Bruno was 2-for-3 with a stolen base, home run, two runs scored and two RBI to lead Stonehill. Rich McHugh batted 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and run scored, while Scott Hackett batted 2-for-4 with a double and run scored. Senior Shane Franz (Cazenovia, N.Y./Cazenovia) chipped in by going 2-for-5.

Junior righthander Alex McCormick three eight shutout innings with eight strikeouts in the Skyhawks game one win.

Junior righthander Alex McCormick (Weymouth, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) picked up the win (2-2) on the mound for Stonehill behind eight shutout innings, scattering four hits, with eight strikeouts and no walks in the game.

Nicholas Devine entered as a pinch-hitter for AIC in the ninth and homered twice, driving in a combined four runs in two ninth-inning at bats to spark the Yellow Jackets eight-run inning to nearly erase a 9-0 deficit in the frame. Junior Paul Maza (Valencia, Venezuela) was 2-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI, while Dan Mooney hit 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored.

Junior righthander Sean Stevenson (Holyoke, Mass./Holyoke) took the loss (1-4) on the mound for AIC, allowing six runs, just two earned, on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks over 6.2 innings.

Stonehill opened the scoring with two in the second when Bruno followed up a leadoff walk by senior Ryan Healey (Lynn, Mass./Lynn English) with his first home run of the afternoon to left center. The Skyhawks took advantage of two AIC errors in scoring a run in the fourth, before breaking the game open with three in the seventh and eighth.

Three AIC errors keyed the three-run seventh as McHugh capped the scoring in the inning with an RBI single up the middle. The other two runs scored when a single by Hackett got past the leftfielder. The Skyhawks collected three more important runs in the eighth, capped by a pinch-hit RBI single up the middle by sophomore Steven Popp (Unionville, Conn./Farmington). Senior Rob Von Stein (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) and sophomore Michael White (Lisbon, N.H./Lisbon Regional) also had RBI singles in the inning.

Stonehill 9, American International 5 – Game 2
Boxscore

Stonehill completed the doubleheader sweep with a 9-5 victory behind five RBI from Angelo Bruno and a strong pitching performance from Michael White.

Bruno hit 3-for-4 with two home runs, a double, three runs scored and five RBI to lead the Stonehill offense. Scott Hackett was 3-for-5 with a run scored, while McHugh was 2-for-5 with an RBI and run scored. Senior Matt Skane (Mashpee, Mass./Mashpee) chipped in by going 2-for-5 with a double, home run and RBI.

Junior Scott Hackett was 3-for-5 with a run scored in game two. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) ???

Michael White picked up the win (2-0) on the mound, allowing four runs, three earned, on eight hits with three strikeouts and four walks over 7.1 innings.

Dan Mooney was 2-for-3 with two RBI in game two for AIC, while Dan Bassani hit 3-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and RBI.

Junior Zach Bunszell (Medford, Mass./Medford) took the loss (1-3), yielding seven runs, six earned, on nine hits with five strikeouts and two walks over four-plus innings of work.

Stonehill struck first again with three in the top of the first, when Bruno followed singles by Mitch Davis and Hackett with a two-run double to center with one out. Franz drove in Bruno with a single up the middle. AIC knotted the score right away with three runs of its own in the home half of the first. Mooney delivered a two-run single, while sophomore Brad Brothers (Palmer, Mass./Palmer) added an RBI single.

Stonehill, which scored in each of the first six innings, regained the lead in the second as Rob Von Stein walked and scored when Hackett reached on a throwing error. Bruno led off the third with his first home run of the game (second of the day) and the Skyhawks added another single run in the fourth with an RBI single from McHugh.

Skane led off the fifth with his first home run of the season and then Stonehill extended its lead to 9-4 with two more runs in the sixth. Bruno followed up a one-out single by McHugh with his third homer of the day (sixth of the season) to leftfield.

AIC tried to rally again in the ninth, but came away with just one run on an RBI single by Bassani, leaving two runners in scoring position when the game ended.

Stonehill (9-9, 5-2 NE-10) is back in action on Monday to host Southern New Hampshire University for a makeup of their rained out Northeast-10 game from March 16 at Lou Gorman Field at 3:30 p.m. American International (5-15, 2-8 NE-10) hosts Adelphi University on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.