Senior Mitch Davis had four hits, including three doubles, today against Southern New Hampshire. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr)

Southern N.H. Hangs On Against Stonehill, 5-2

Sylvester pitching, Pelletier's bat leads Penmen to sixth win in last seven

Boxscore

EASTON, Mass. (April 5, 2010) – Southern New Hampshire University worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth inning to hold on to a 5-2 victory over Stonehill College in Northeast-10 Conference baseball action at Lou Gorman Field this afternoon.

Senior Eric Pelletier (Beverly, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) led the Southern New Hampshire offense as he hit 3-for-5 with two RBI. Freshman Brandon Dutch (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) batted 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while sophomore Kevin Spatkowski (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern) finished 2-for-4 with a double and RBI.

Freshman righthander Derrick Sylvester (Franklin, N.H./Franklin) picked up the win (2-1) on the mound, allowing two earned runs on nine hits with nine strikeouts and two walks over eight innings. Senior lefthander Steven Golbranson (Abington, Mass./Abington) collected his second save of the year by getting a double-play ball on the only batter he faced after entering with the bases loaded and none out in the bottom of the ninth as the Penmen came away with their sixth win over their last seven contests.

Senior Mitch Davis (Bow, N.H./Bow) led Stonehill by batting 4-for-5 with three doubles, a stolen base, run scored and RBI. Junior Brenden Shepard (Boxford, Mass./Masconomet) was 3-for-4 with a double, while senior Shane Franz (Cazenovia, N.Y./Cazenovia) finished 2-for-4 with a double. Sophomore Rich McHugh (Pembroke, Mass./Thayer Academy) chipped in by going 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Sophomore lefthander Eric Haughn (Pembroke, Mass./Pembroke) took the loss (1-2), surrendering four earned runs on five hits with six strikeouts and five walks over 5.1 innings.

Junior Brenden Shepard hit 3-for-4 for the Skyhawks. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr)

SNHU scored first with two runs in the third with the benefit of just one hit by taking advantage of four walks. Pelletier had the lone hit of the inning with a two-run single with the bases loaded and one out. Stonehill evened the score in the fifth as senior Rob Von Stein (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) and Davis led off with back-to-back doubles for its first run. Davis stole third and then scored on a one-out single by McHugh.

SNHU regained the lead for good in their next at bat on an RBI double by Spatkowski and an RBI groundout by freshman Jon Minucci (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand). The Penmen added an insurance run in the eighth as Dutch led off with a single and later scored when Minucci reached on an error.

Senior Matt Skane (Mashpee, Mass./Mashpee) and Shepard led off the Stonehill ninth with a walk and single, before Davis loaded the bases with a one-out single. Golbranson then entered for SNHU and got Skyhawks junior Scott Hackett (Bangor, Maine/Bangor) to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.

Stonehill (9-10, 5-3 NE-10) is right back in action on Tuesday when it hosts rival Bentley University for a Northeast-10 battle at Gorman Field at 3:30 p.m. Southern New Hampshire (11-14, 4-4 NE-10) visits Saint Anselm College on Wednesday for a non-conference matchup at 3:30 p.m.