GOFFSTOWN, N.H. – Southern New Hampshire University, ranked 12th in the nation among NCAA Division II baseball programs, improved to 5-0 in Northeast-10 play with a 9-8 extra-innings away victory against local rival Saint Anselm College on Thursday.
Saint Anselm opened a quick 3-0 lead, getting a pair of home runs in the second inning from senior Mike Pierro (North Andover, Mass.) and junior Brady Doran (Greenville, S.C.). The Penmen responded with five unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth and managed to hold onto their lead in the bottom of the fifth despite an unearned run.
The game stayed at 5-4 until Saint Anselm graduate student Salvatore Pezzolla (East Greenbush, N.Y.) would launch a one out, solo home run to tie the score at five and force extra innings.
SNHU exploded in the top of the tenth, with RBI from graduate student Idelson Taveras (Lawrence, Mass.)redshirt sophomore Cam Caraher (Plymouth, Mass.), redshirt junior Alex Kennedy (Braintree, Mass.) and redshirt sophomore Danniel Rivera (New Britain, Conn.). The extra-inning rally gave the Penmen four runs and a lead that the Hawks couldn’t overcome, despite a three-run home run in the bottom of the tenth from Saint Anselm’s Matt Collins (Beverly, Mass.)
The Penmen picked up a 26th consecutive win over the Hawks, a string which dates back to 2013.
