Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 GAME 1 BOX SCORE | GAME 2 BOX SCORE
RAPID REACTION WITH JUNIOR CARSON HELMS
When and Where: April 30, 2016 – Manchester, N.H. (Penmen Field)
Game 1 Score: Stonehill College 11, Southern New Hampshire University 8
Game 2 Score: Southern New Hampshire University 12, Stonehill College 2
Records: SNHU 39-5 (24-3 NE-10, 16-3 NE-10 NE), Stonehill 24-15 (12-8 NE-10, 9-7 NE-10 NE)
Juniors Carson Helms (Farmington, Conn.) and Manny Cruz (Wolcott, Conn.) went a combined 11-for-20 with six extra-base hits as the fifth-ranked Southern New Hampshire University baseball team split Saturday's doubleheader against Stonehill College at Penmen Field in a pair of games that aired live on NESNplus and NESN National. Stonehill rallied for an 11-8 victory in game one, while SNHU left no doubt with a 12-2 whipping in game two.
Helms was 6-for-10 with a home run, six RBI and three runs scored in the two games, while Cruz went 5-for-9 and scored five times. Sophomore Taylor Olmstead (Greenwich, Conn.) also put together a nice afternoon, going 4-for-8 with a walk, three extra-base hits, an RBI and two runs scored.
Southern New Hampshire leapt out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning of game two as junior Zach Goldstein (Merrick, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch to open the frame, Cruz drew a four-pitch walk and graduate student Mike Mastroberti (Ramsey, N.J.) singled to left to load the bases for Helms, who quickly unloaded them with a three-run double down the left field line. Helms then advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored when he hustled home on a dropped third strike throw down to first base. The Penmen capped the scoring on Olmstead's RBI double to left.
The Skyhawks grabbed two back in the third against junior starter Alex Person (Foxboro, Mass.) on Brian Campbell's two-run single to right.
SNHU nudged the lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the frame when junior Derek Bauer (Millis, Mass.) singled through the right side on the first pitch of the inning, went to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on an infield single from grad student Ryan Gendron (Nashua, N.H.) and scored on another wild pitch.
The Penmen broke it open in the fourth when an RBI single from Mastroberti, a run-scoring double from Helms and a two-run single by Bauer made it 10-2. Helms capped the scoring in the sixth with a one-out, two-run crush job to straightaway center field for his seventh home run of the season.
Person (8-0, 2.97 ERA) allowed two runs on three hits, while striking out eight and walking four over seven innings. Graduate student Lucas Olen (Bedford, N.H.) walked one and struck out a batter in a scoreless eighth, while freshman Connor Gavin (E. Bridgewater, Mass.) fanned one in a perfect ninth.
Helms finished 4-for-5 with six RBI and three runs scored, while Goldstein was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored. Cruz (walk, three runs) and Bauer (two RBI, run) were both 2-for-4. Mastroberti went 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.
In the first game, Mastroberti's RBI single to left and Bauer's run-scoring fielder's choice grounder to second pushed the Penmen out to a 2-0 lead. They doubled that margin in the second when Olmstead led off with a triple to right scored two batters later on a grounder to short by sophomore Sean Webster (Boston, Mass.) before a two-out throwing error later in the inning plated another run.
Stonehill cut into the lead against senior starter Tim Viehoff (Derry, N.H.) on Eric Schneider's sacrifice fly to center in the fifth that made it 4-1. The Skyhawks did more damage in the sixth as Isiah Nunez' three-run homer to left-center tied the game before Schneider's two-run double to left-center put Stonehill in front at 6-4.
The Skyhawks' bats were not finished, however, as three more in the seventh stretched the lead to five. Chris Hoyt's bases-loaded walk and Campbell's two-run single to right ran the advantage to 9-4. After Cruz began the bottom of the seventh with a double and later scored on a two-out error, Brian Hocking added a two-run shot to left-center in the eighth that ballooned the lead to 11-5.
Southern New Hampshire grabbed another one back in the eighth on Goldstein's run-scoring double to right-center and pushed a pair across in the ninth when Gendron began a two-out rally with a solo bomb to left. Olmstead would follow with a single to center and then score when a ball struck well by sophomore Andrew Lalonde (Bedford, N.H.) was dropped by the right fielder. Stonehill would finally close it out when Webster drilled a ball back at the pitcher and nearly beat the throw to first to extend the rally, but was called out.
Viehoff (8-1, 2.12 ERA) submitted his worst outing of the season as he relinquished five runs on three hits and a career-high eight walks, while punching out six, in five-and-a-third innings. Sophomore Ivon Clough (Dublin, N.H.), who began the season with 14-and-a-third scoreless innings, was finally scuffed up by the opposition as he worked two-and-two-thirds innings, giving up six runs on five hits, while walking four and striking out three. Freshman Dylan Sbordone (Newton, Mass.) struck out one in a perfect ninth.
Cruz and Olmstead were both 3-for-5 with two runs scored, while Helms went 2-for-5.
Notes:
- Southern New Hampshire, which has won 25 of its last 28 and 21 of 23, is still on pace for its best record ever at 39-5. The 2012 squad that advanced to the Division II College World Series in Cary, N.C., was 33-10 through its first 43 games.
- Bauer, who is tied for the Northeast-10 lead in RBI (51) and is tied for third in home runs (8), has driven in at least one run in 12 straight games, totaling 24 RBI during that stretch.
- Bauer and Mastroberti are both one RBI shy of matching Matt Boulter (2012) for the most RBI ever in a single season for a Penmen with 52.
- Gendron extended his hitting streak to a team-high nine games and pulled into a tie for the league lead in home runs with his 11th of the season, while Helms has now hit safely in seven straight.
- Mastroberti has a hit in 16 of his last 17 contests, while Goldstein has hit safely in 12 of 13.
- Gavin has not allowed a run in 12 innings, spanning 12 appearances, to begin his career.
Up Next:
The Penmen are back in action Sunday, May 1 (10:30 a.m.) when they close out the three-game set with Stonehill on Senior Day at Penmen Field.
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