RAPID REACTION WITH JUNIOR TOM BLANDINI

When and Where: April 6, 2019 – Hooksett, N.H. (Penmen Field)
Game 1 Score: Southern New Hampshire University 3, College of Saint Rose 1
Game 2 Score: Southern New Hampshire University 10, College of Saint Rose 0
Records: SNHU 23-6 (9-1 NE10), Saint Rose 7-13 (3-5 NE10)

Junior Tom Blandini (Bow, N.H.) and sophomore Sam Henrie (Middleboro, Mass.) each went 4-for-8 and combined to knock in six runs, while junior Wesley Tobin (Portsmouth, N.H.) and graduate student Chris Murphy (Billerica, Mass.) both turned in scoreless outings, as the seventh-ranked Southern New Hampshire University baseball team took two from the College of Saint Rose on Saturday at Penmen Field. SNHU posted a 3-1 victory in game one, before rolling to a 10-0 win in the second game.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Blandini homered, drove in four runs and scored twice, while swiping a pair of bases.
• Henrie collected a pair of RBI, hit three doubles, walked and scored a run.
• Tobin (5-2) tossed six shutout innings, allowing four hits – just one out of the infield – while striking out nine and walking one.
• Murphy (3-0) fired eight scoreless frames, giving up five hits, fanning 10 and walking just one.
• Redshirt-sophomore Alex Gomes (Peabody, Mass.) earned his first save of the season in game one with two scoreless innings, punching out one, while giving up a hit.
• Sophomore Idelson Taveras (Lawrence, Mass.) went 2-for-5 with a walk, RBI and two runs scored in the twinbill.

HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 1

• Southern New Hampshire escaped a first-and-third jam in the top of the first, as Tobin struck out the side to work around a walk, stolen base and infield hit.
• The Penmen finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth, as junior Phoenix Hernandez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame and senior Joshua Zbierski (Stafford Springs, Conn.) doubled off the wall in center for the first SNHU hit, before Taveras looped a single into center to make it 1-0. After Taveras swiped second to put a pair in scoring position, Blandini lined a two-run base knock into right-center to extend the lead to 3-0 and chase the Saint Rose starter from the game with no one out in the inning.
• Saint Rose had runners at the corners with one out in the top of the sixth when head coach Scott Loiseau went out for a mound visit with action in the bullpen. Tobin stayed in the game and executed his pitch, inducing a 4-6-3, inning-ending double play to get out of the tight spot.
• Saint Rose did find the scoreboard in the eighth inning against the Penmen bullpen, as a leadoff walk to Andrew Pedone and a single from Nicolas Teitter, followed by a wild pitch, put a pair in scoring position for Jon Montesanti, who doubled to right to drive in one run and keep two runners at second and third with no one out. Gomes entered in relief and immediately received a double play, as Blandini caught a hard liner and threw to third to get the runner. Henrie then made a great play in right, running down a pop up in foul territory near the fence to ending the inning.
• Gomes worked around a two-out hit in the ninth to nail down the save.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE – GAME 1

• Taveras was 1-for-2 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored.
• Blandini (two RBI), Zbierski (run) and Faircloth were all 1-for-3.
• Redshirt-sophomore Zachary Merchant (Lunenburg, Mass.) allowed one run on two hits in an inning of working, striking out one and walking one.

HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 2

• Southern New Hampshire jumped all over Saint Rose with four runs in the bottom of the first. Blandini led off with a base hit, stole second and scored on Henrie's RBI double to left, but the Penmen doubled their lead two batters later, with Zbierski knocking in Henrie with a run-scoring single to left. The advantage duplicated again with redshirt-junior Sean Doherty (Haverhill, Mass.) lacing a double down the left field line to plate two and make it 4-0.
• SNHU found the scoreboard again in the fourth with a two-out rally. Taveras doubled to the wall in right before Blandini followed with his second home run in as many days, a two-run shot to right that stretched the lead to 6-0.
• Another two-out rally netted the Penmen a run in the fifth, as Hernandez doubled to the gap in right-center, went to third on a wild pitch and scored when Doherty attempted to steal second and then stayed in a run-down until the run crossed the plate.
• The Penmen tacked on three more in the bottom of the eighth on back-to-back RBI singles from senior Kyle Ruth (Albany, N.Y.) and Henrie, as well as a bases-loaded walk to sophomore Dakota Mulcay (Goffstown, N.H.).

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE – GAME 2

• Henrie finished 4-for-5 with three extra-base hits, two RBI and a run scored.
• Blandini was 3-for-5 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored.
• Hernandez went 2-for-5 and scored twice.
• Taveras collected one hit in his three at bats and scored a run.
• Redshirt-junior Joshua Goldstein (Haverhill, Mass.) turned in a 1-for-4 nightcap.
• Zbierski was 1-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
• Redshirt-freshman Joshua Eastman (Marshfield, Mass.) allowed a hit and a walk, while striking out a pair, in a scoreless inning of relief.

NOTES

• Southern New Hampshire has won 16 of its last 19, including 10 of the last 11, and eight straight.
• SNHU has now won 10-in-a-row against Saint Rose, dating back to April 2011.
• The Penmen are 8-0 at home this season and improve to 83-17 (.830) at Penmen Field since the start of the 2014 season.
• Southern New Hampshire has trailed for just two-thirds of an inning in the 73 frames it has played at home this season.
• Blandini's home run was his third of the season and fifth of his career.
• Henrie becomes the first Penmen to double three times in a single game since Zach Goldstein collected a trio of two-baggers in a 20-5 NCAA East Regional win over Felician University on May 21, 2016. Zbierski also turned the trick that same season, doubling three times in a 13-6 victory at American International College on April 3.

UP NEXT

• The Penmen return to action Sunday, April 7 for another noon doubleheader against Le Moyne College at Penmen Field.

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