Senior Mitch Davis finished just a double shy of hitting for the cycle to get the day rolling for Stonehill in game one. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr)

Stonehill Closes Out Regular Season with Sweep of #22 New Haven

Skyhawks win game one, 4-2, before taking game two, 7-3,
to clinch fourth-seed in upcoming NE-10 Championships

EASTON, Mass. (May 2, 2010) – Stonehill College closed out the regular season by sweeping a Northeast-10 Conference baseball doubleheader from the University of New Haven, ranked 22^nd in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II poll, at Lou Gorman Field this afternoon. The Skyhawks posted a 4-2 win in game one, before completing the sweep with a 7-3 triumph in game two.

Stonehill (25-16, 17-9 NE-10) clinched the fourth seed in the upcoming NE-10 Championships and will open the double-elimination event on Thursday against third-seeded New Haven (30-11, 18-8 NE-10). The Championship will be hosted by second-seeded Franklin Pierce University at Dr. Arthur & Martha Pappas Field Thursday through Sunday.    

Stonehill 4, New Haven 2 – Game 1

Senior Mitch Davis (Bow, N.H./Bow) finished a double short of the cycle and junior righthander Alex McCormick (Weymouth, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) pitched 7.1 strong innings on the mound as Stonehill opened the day with a 4-2 win to sew up the fourth-seed.

Junior Alex McCormick picked up his team-leading fifth win of the season with 7.1 strong innings in game one.

Davis paced the Stonehill offense as he hit 3-for-4 with a triple, home run and two runs scored. Junior Scott Hackett (Bangor, Maine/Bangor) batted 2-for-3 with a double and RBI, while senior Matt Skane (Mashpee, Mass./Mashpee) went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI.

McCormick earned the win (5-3) on the mound, allowing two runs, just one earned, while scattering ten hits with four strikeouts and a walk over 7.1 innings. Sophomore Matt Olsen (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) collected his first save of the season with 1.2 scoreless innings of relief, working around two hits and striking out one.

Sophomore Jordan Kershaw (Seymour, Conn./Seymour) led New Haven as he hit 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and a run scored. Sophomore David Wirkus (Orange, Conn./Fairfield Prep) batted 2-for-3 with an RBI, while classmate Ryan Brockett (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) finished 3-for-4.

Junior righthander Alex Smith (Manchester, Conn./Manchester) took the loss (6-3), allowing four earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts and three walks over 6.2 innings.

Stonehill struck first with a run in the third as Davis led off with a triple to center and scored on single up the middle from Hackett. New Haven answered with two in the fourth as freshman Taylor Candage (Portland, Maine/Deering) and Wirkus both collected RBI singles.

Stonehill regained the lead in the sixth when senior Shane Franz (Cazenovia, N.Y./Cazenovia) worked a two-out walk to extend the inning for Skane who drilled his third home run of the season to left center. The Skyhawks added an insurance run with Davis' second homer of the year with two out in the seventh.

New Haven loaded the bases with none out in the top of the ninth with a pair of singles and a Stonehill error, but Olsen got a pop out and double-play to escape the jam.

Stonehill 7, New Haven 3 – Game 2

Stonehill used a 12-hit offensive attack and a strong pitching performance from sophomore lefthander Eric Haughn (Pembroke, Mass./Pembroke) to close out the sweep with a 7-3 win.

Freshman Michael Zeiner had three hits and two RBI to pace the Skyhawks in game two.

Haughn earned the win (3-2) as he allowed three runs, two earned, on eight hits with three strikeouts and two walks over 6.1 innings. Senior Joe SantaBarbara (Danvers, Mass./Masconomet) and juniors Dan Corrigan (Portsmouth, R.I./Portsmouth) and Brenden Shepard (Boxford, Mass./Masconomet) combined for 2.2 scoreless innings of relief to close the game out.

Freshman Michael Zeiner (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) paced Stonehill's 12-hit attack as he hit 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Sophomore Steven Popp (Unionville, Conn./Farmington) went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, while junior Angelo Bruno (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) batted 2-for-5. Freshman James DeAlto (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y./Briarcliff) finished 1-for-3 with an RBI and run scored, while sophomore Michael Magnussen (Carver, Mass./Coyle & Cassidy) was 1-for-5 with a double and two RBI.

Junior Tom Rombilus (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) led New Haven by going 2-for-3 with a stolen base, RBI and run scored. Sophomore Kyle Pettoruto (Andover, Mass./St. John's Prep) hit 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and runs scored.

Sophomore Mike Aquilino (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) took the loss, yielding four earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts and a walk over 3.2 innings.

Stonehill opened the scoring with a four-run fourth, all of which came after Aquilino got the first two batters of the inning out. Shane Franz kept the inning going with a two-out walk and then scored on a single by sophomore Michael White (Lisbon, N.H./Lisbon Regional). DeAlto added an RBI single for the Skyhawks before Zeiner ripped a two-run double.

New Haven cut the lead in half in its next at bat with two runs in the fifth. Rombilus notched an RBI single and later scored on a sacrifice fly to right by senior Kyle Donnelly (Oneonta, N.Y./Oneonta). Stonehill regained a three-run lead (5-2) with a run in the sixth on an RBI single from Popp.

New Haven added a single run in the seventh when Pettoruto led off with a double and scored on a one-out RBI single by Ryan Brockett. Stonehill then sealed the win with two in the eighth on a two-run double with two out by Magnussen.