GOFFSTOWN, N.H. – On Sunday, Saint Anselm and Southern New Hampshire University split a baseball doubleheader, with Saint Anselm taking the first game 11-8 and the Penmen taking the second game, 5-3.
The Hawks are now 13-17 on the season with a 6-6 mark in Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division play while the Penmen go to 19-7 overall and 6-2 in conference play.
In Game 1, the Hawks brought 10 batters to the plate and pushed across five runs in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore Zack Clough (Newbury, Mass.) reached on an error and would score on a double by graduate student Salvatore Pezzolla (East Greenbush, N.Y.).
Senior Kyle Maurice (Exeter, N.H.) and junior Mike Borrelli (Salisbury, Mass.) walked to load the bases for senior Mike Pierro (North Andover, Mass.). Pezzolla would cross on a wild pitch before Pierro was put on with an intentional walk. Elmore walked home a run which set up junior Brady Doran (Greenville, S.C.) who singled home two runs, giving the Hawks a 5-0 lead.
Redshirt-freshman Dylan O’Sullivan (Manchester, N.H.) put the Penmen on the board with a two-run shot to center in the second.
After the Hawks answered back with two more in the bottom of the second, SNHU grabbed one back in the third, before a three-run blast off the bat of redshirt-sophomore Cristian Mercedes (Providence, R.I.) highlighted a four-run fourth that tied the game in the middle of the fourth, 7-7.
Borrelli’s two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth put the Hawks ahead for good. Schwartz hit a home run on the sixth for SNHU and sophomore Nolan Elmore (Brentwood, N.H.) hit a two-run homer for Saint Anselm to complete the scoreline.
In the second game, Senior Sam Henrie (Middleboro, Mass.) snapped a scoreless deadlock in the top of the third by following Mercedes’ leadoff single with a two-run home run to right-center. Henrie doubled the SNHU lead with a two-out, two-run double down the right field line in the fourth.
Saint Anselm halved the lead with two off a Maurice home run to center in the sixth, but redshirt-junior Alex Kennedy (Braintree, Mass.) came through with an RBI single to right in the seventh to make it 5-2.
The Hawks added an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh, but couldn’t find more offense as redshirt-sophomore Brandon White (Simsbury, Conn.) finished the first complete game of his collegiate career.
SNHU is ranked 12th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II Poll and still sits atop the NCBWA East Region Poll. The Penmen, who lead the all-time series with Saint Anselm 58-34, have won 27 of the last 29 meetings.
Sunday’s results give SNHU a season victory against Saint Anselm in baseball, giving them two points in the Queen City Cup standings, with the Penmen now leading, 18-12.
Saint Anselm will head to in-state foe Franklin Pierce University for a pair of doubleheaders on Friday, Apr. 15 and Saturday, Apr. 16. SNHU returns to the diamond on Wednesday, Apr. 13 against St. Thomas Aquinas College.
