2010 NE-10 BASEBALL
CHAMPIONSHIP
#4 Stonehill Captures Third NE-10
Title
Skyhawks Top #25 Franklin Pierce, 5-4 (10 innings)
Championship MVP Bruno's
tenth-inning RBI double the difference as Skyhawks run through
weekend with 4-0 record to earn automatic NCAA Tournament
bid
Fourth-seeded Stonehill went a perfect 4-0 in capturing its
third NE-10 Championship this weekend and first since 2000 with
Sunday's win over second-seeded Franklin Pierce. (PHOTO BY Richard
Orr)
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RINDGE, N.H. (May 9, 2010)
– Fourth-seeded Stonehill College, ranked fourth in
this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association
(NCBWA) East Regional poll, earned its third Northeast-10
Conference baseball championship by storming through the weekend
with a 4-0 mark, capped by a 5-4 triumph over second-seeded and
host Franklin Pierce University, ranked 25th nationally,
in ten innings at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field this
afternoon.
Junior Angelo Bruno earned
MVP honors for the NE-10 Championship and delivered the
game-winning RBI double in the tenth. (PHOTO BY Richard
Orr)
|
Stonehill (29-16, 17-9 NE-10),
ranked seventh in the most recent NCAA Division II East Regional
rankings, earns the Northeast-10 Conference's automatic bid to the
NCAA Division II Baseball Championships. The Skyhawks, who will be
making their second NCAA Tournament appearance, captured their
third NE-10 title and first since 2000 when they also made their
only previous NCAA Tournament appearance. Stonehill also won the
championship in 1985.
Franklin Pierce (36-14-1, 19-6-1
NE-10) is a lock to earn one of three at-large NCAA Tournament bids
from the East Region and could be named host of the six-team East
Regional when bids are announced tonight at www.ncaa.com
at 10 p.m.
Junior first baseman Angelo
Bruno (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) delivered the decisive
hit with an RBI double with two out in the top of the tenth inning
that scored senior Mitch Davis (Bow,
N.H./Bow) from third after he had reached base with a
leadoff walk. Bruno was named the NE-10 Championships MVP for his
efforts all weekend long and he was joined on the All-Championship
team from Stonehill by junior Scott
Hackett (Bangor, Maine/Bangor) and Brenden Shepard
(Boxford, Mass./Masconomet).
Bruno finished 1-for-5 on the
afternoon with his ninth double of the season. Hackett was 1-for-4
with a home run and two RBI, while senior Rob Von Stein
(Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) batted 2-for-4 with a triple
and two runs scored. Sophomore Michael White
(Lisbon, N.H./Lisbon Regional) hit 2-for-5 on the
afternoon.
Sophomore Michael Von Stein
(Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) picked up the win (3-1) in
relief for Stonehill, allowing an unearned run on three hits with
six strikeouts and two walks over 3.2 innings. Shepard shut the
door on the title with a scoreless tenth, working around a hit and
a hit batter, with two strikeouts for his fourth save of the season
and third in four games over the weekend. Sophomore lefthander
Matt
Olsen (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) started for the
Skyhawks and yielded three earned runs on just five hits with three
strikeouts and two walks over 5.1 innings.
Senior Cody Kauffman (Blue
Bell, Pa./ Wissahickon) paced Franklin
Pierce as he hit 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI. Sophomore
Isaac Wenrich (Westlawn, Pa./Wilson) batted
2-for-4 with a double, run scored and two RBI, while junior
Eric Pearson (Webster, N.H./Merrimack Valley)
finished 2-for-5 with an RBI.
Junior lefthander Brian
Maloney (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) took the loss (3-4) in
relief for the Ravens, surrendering the one run on a hit and walk
with five strikeouts over three innings. Junior Rob
Nicholas (Southborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional) started
for Franklin Pierce and allowed three earned runs on six hits with
six strikeouts and a walk over six innings.
Pearson and Maloney earned
All-Championship Team honors for Franklin Pierce.
Franklin Pierce struck first win a
run in the second as Wenrich singled with one out and later scored
on a two-out single down the leftfield line by Kauffman. Stonehill
got that run right back in the third when Rob Von Stein tripled to
center with one out and scored on a sacrifice fly from Shepard.
Stonehill took its first lead of
the game in the sixth when Hackett followed up a one out single up
the middle by Davis with his second home run of the season to
right. Franklin Pierce bounced right back in the home half to
regain the lead. Wenrich belted a two-run double to tie the game
and Kauffman added an RBI single to put the Ravens in front, 4-3.
Stonehill tied it right back up in
the seventh as Rob Von Stein singled to left center and advanced
station to station on wild pitches, scoring on the latter with two
out. In the tenth, Davis led off with a walk and advanced to second
on a wild pitch. Maloney got a strikeout and ground out, but Bruno
followed with the game-winning double down the leftfield line.
