NORFOLK, Va. (March 15, 2025) – The Stonehill College baseball team edged out a narrow, 9-7, win over Northeast Conference (NEC) opponent Norfolk State University Saturday afternoon. With the Skyhawks improved to 3-11 overall and 2-0 in conference play, while the Spartans dropped to 0-15 overall and 0-5 against conference opponents.      
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Sophomore Grayson Sparr extended his hitting streak to six games after leading the Skyhawks at the dish, going 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored, and three runs batted in.
• Senior Sam Parks reached base in all six at-bats, drawing four walks while registering a pair of singles.
• Sophomore Ryan LeClair tallied a career-high four stolen bases for the Skyhawks, while junior Sean McGee recorded his fourth multi-hit game of the season.
• Junior Aidan Cohall extended his hitting streak to a team-high nine games after scoring 2-for-5 on the day with a pair of runs and two stolen bases.
• Freshman Hunter Bell earned his first career win in his second career start, holding the Spartans to three runs over 4.0 innings of work with a career-high six strikeouts.
• Junior Justin Journette, graduate student Jamal Ritter, and junior Collin Curry each belted home runs for Norfolk State.
• Sophomore Kydese Queen went 2-for-3 on the day with two RBI for the Spartans.
• Redshirt senior Nathaniel Varnier took the loss on the mound despite striking out a season-high seven batters over 4.0 innings of work.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Stonehill wasted little time jumping out to an early lead. After the top of the second inning, the Skyhawks led the Spartans 4-0. A pair of RBI base knocks off the bats of McGee and Sparr and a fielding error that allowed McGee to come home and score fueled Stonehill's three-run opening frame.

In the top of the second inning, after LeClair led off the frame with a free-pass, he made his way into scoring position on a sacrifice infield groundout from freshman Brayden Rader. Looking to advance over to third, LeClair swiped his first of four stolen bases on the day, and on an errant throw from the Norfolk State backstop, he raced home and scored the Skyhawks' fourth run early in the contest.

The Spartans would respond in the bottom half of the second with one swing of the bat, cutting their deficit in half. After freshman Ryan Hoeft laced a single into left field, he would be brought home to score a batter later when Curry pulled a two-run homerun down the right-field line.

Stonehill regained its four-run lead in the top of the fourth when a sacrifice fly from Rader plated sophomore Cam Morrison, and an infield bases-loaded bunt by McGee helped score LeClair, helping make the score 6-2. In the bottom half of the fourth inning, Norfolk State would cut its gap to three after a wild pitch allowed Hoeft to race home and score.

After a scoreless fifth and sixth inning on either side, Stonehill would tack onto its lead in the seventh and eighth innings with three additional runs. Rader lifted a sacrifice fly to left field in the seventh before Sparr launched a two-run home run in the eighth over the centerfield wall, marking his fourth round-tripper of the campaign.  

Despite a valiant effort to mount a comeback in the eighth and ninth innings, which saw the Spartans cut the Stonehill lead to 9-7, the Skyhawks' Adam Martin would hold off the Norfolk State bats, as he picked up his first save of the season.

UP NEXT
Stonehill (3-11, 2-0 NEC) wraps up its three-game weekend series against NEC opponent Norfolk State tomorrow afternoon. First pitch between the Skyhawks and Spartans from Marty L. Miller Field is set for 12 PM.
 
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