FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 6, 2015
Three lower seeds came away with upset victories in the opening round of the Northeast-10 Baseball Championship on Tuesday, setting up the NE-10 Championship Weekend field, which will be hosted by the University of New Haven. Franklin Pierce was the only higher seed to advance, while Adelphi, New Haven and Stonehill all pulled off upsets.
The fourth-seeded Panthers knocked off the Pace, the top seed from the Southwest Division, 6-2, while No. 3 SW New Haven claimed a 7-2 win over No. 2 SW American International. In the Northeast Division, third-seeded Stonehill edged out No. 2 seed Southern New Hampshire, 4-3, and top-seeded Franklin Pierce earned an 11-4 victory over No. 4 seed Merrimack.
New Haven will host Championship Weekend, which will run from Thursday throught Saturday. Adelphi and Stonehill will square off first at noon, followed by New Haven and Franklin Pierce at 3 p.m.
#4 SW Adelphi 6, #1 SW Pace 2 | BOX
PURCHASE, N.Y. - The top three in the batting order notched two hits for the Panthers (19-19) as Donato Signore, Kory Cassara, and Nick Zito all also scored a run while Zito added an RBI. In the middle of the lineup, Tyler Murphy and Ray Triano each recorded two RBI while Robert Vani added a run scored and a RBI. On the mound, TJ Santiago earned the victory behind a start of 4.2 innings, four strikeouts and one run allowed. Michael Ceparano, Nikolas Batas, and Mike Cranston combined for a relief effort of 4.1 innings.
An RBI single in the bottom of the second from Cory Capaldi scored Nick LoBello to put the Setters (21-18) up 1-0 early on. In the fourth, Adelphi tied the score at 1-1 with Triano knocking in his first run of the game on a groundout to shortstop to score Vani. Vani walked to leadoff the inning and advanced to second on a Murphy sacrifice bunt followed by a wild pitch to put him on third for Triano.
A run scoring fifth inning allowed the Panthers to jump ahead midway through the game. A walk to Rich Cambria followed by back-to-back singles from Signore and Cassara loaded the bases with no outs. Zito took advantage of the situation with a single up the middle to score Cambria to put the Panthers ahead at 2-1. Vani followed with a sacrifice fly to score Signore while Murphy provided a two-RBI double to push the Brown and Gold lead to 5-1. Triano capped off the scoring with an RBI single to plate Murphy and head to the middle of the fifth up 6-1.
Frank Mayo doubled home Paul Piccolino to cut the Pace deficit to 6-2. However, the relief trio of Ceparano, Batas, and Cranston held the Setters to four hits and no walks. In the ninth, Cranston produced three groundouts around an infield single to push the Panthers to Championship Weekend.
#3 SW New Haven 7, #2 SW American International 2 | BOX
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Trailing 1-0 in the fifth, the Chargers got on the board when TJ Riccio hit his first career home run leading off the inning to tie the game at 1-1. After a pop out, Jack Zagaja and Eddie Tammaro singled. Two batters later, Tom Walraven doubled down the leftfield line, scoring Zagaja for a 2-1 New Haven lead. Zach Collett followed with a single of his own, plating Tammaro for a 3-1 lead.
The game remained that way until the eighth when with two out, Robert Petrillo singled and stole second. Kyle Cullen walked before Riccio delivered a single to left to score Petrillo, extending the lead to 4-1.
The Chargers put the game away in the ninth, scoring three more times. Zagaja singled to open the inning and was sacrificed to second on a sac bunt. On the play, the throw to second sailed wide allowing Tammaro to reach first and sending Zagaja to third where he stood when Brendan O'Reilly lifted a sac fly to right, plating Zagaja for a 5-1 lead. After walks to Walraven and Collett, Petrillo delivered a sacrifice fly of his own to bring home Tammaro and make it 6-1. A single by Cullen scored Walraven to cap the scoring in the frame.
Meanwhile, on the mound, Joey Royer (4-1) turned in a masterful performance. He went seven innings allowing one run on five hits, striking out four. Brian Caselli authored the final two innings of the game to secure the win.
#3 NE Stonehill 4, #2 NE So. New Hampshire 3 | BOX
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Senior right-hander Armand Rugel struck out eight batters and gave up just one run on two hits over 7.2 innings as third-seeded Stonehill College held on for a 4-3 victory at No. 2 seed Southern New Hampshire University. Senior catcher Eric Schneider led the Skyhawks at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a triple and a two-run single in the sixth inning. Senior shortstop Dan Fratus walked and hit a solo home run, while sophomore outfielder Ben Monte reached base three times on a single and two walks and junior Brian Campbell chipped in with a single and a run.
Both teams had opportunities to jump out to an early lead, but failed to convert with men in scoring position. Stonehill finally broke through for a pair of runs in the sixth. Campbell led off with a single to left field, and Fratus followed with a walk. Following a successful double steal, Schneider plated both baserunners with a single to left field.
The Penmen cut their deficit in half in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Manny Cruz, but Stonehill regained its-two run edge in the top of the eighth as Fratus blasted a towering solo home run over the left field fence. The Skyhawks tacked on another insurance run in the ninth, as Monte came in to score on a passed ball after walking with one out in the inning.
Monte's run would prove to be instrumental, as Southern New Hampshire nearly came all the way back from its three-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth. Senior Alejandro Diaz led off with a single, but was erased at second as Derek Bauer reached on a fielder's choice. After the next better struck out for the second out of the inning, Lorenzo Papa kept the Penmen's hopes alive with a double to left field that put two runners in scoring position. A subsequent fielding error allowed both Papa and Bauer to score and brought the potential game-winning run to the plate, but Patrick Nicholson struck out sophomore Cam Oliveira to end the contest.
#1 NE Franklin Pierce 11, #4 NE Merrimack 4 | BOX
RINDGE, N.H. - Sophomore right-hander Mike Lundin struck out nine over 7.1 innings as the No. 1/3 nationally ranked and top seeded Franklin Pierce baseball team erased some bad memories from the last two years with an 11-4 win over fourth seeded Merrimack in the first round of the Northeast-10 Championship. The Ravens plated five runs in the bottom of the second to break the game open and help energize an announced crowd of 320 at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field.
After Lundin stranded runners at first and second with a strikeout of Merrimack junior designated hitter Matt Brown in the top of the first, Franklin Pierce opened the scoring with a run in the home half of the inning. Junior center fielder Maxx Sheehan started the inning with a second-pitch double the other way down the right-field line, moved to third on a wild pitch and later scored on an RBI single pulled through the left side of the infield by senior catcher Matt Walsh.
Lundin worked around a two out single in the top of the second inning, and then the Ravens struck for five runs in the bottom half to break the game open and push the lead to 6-0. Sophomore designated hitter Chris LaVorgna dumped a leadoff single into left-center and stole second, the first of five stolen bases on the night for Franklin Pierce. LaVorgna moved to third on a groundout and scored on an RBI single back through the middle by junior left fielder Kurtis White. White stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a safety squeeze on the left side by Sheehan, which the latter easily beat out for an RBI bunt single.
With the Northeast-10 Player of the Year, sophomore third baseman Jay Jabs at the plate, Sheehan stole second, though the theft ultimately proved unnecessary. Jabs turned on a 1-1 pitch and hit it an estimated 350 feet to straightaway right, and the ball narrowly cleared both the fence and the leaping Merrimack right fielder for a two-run home run, Jabs' conference-leading 13th long ball of the season. Senior right fielder John Razzino followed with a double down the right-field line and scored on an RBI single to right by Walsh to cap the inning's scoring.
Franklin Pierce added single runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to push the lead as high as 8-0. Merrimack got on the board with three runs in the top of the sixth to cut the gap to 8-3. Franklin Pierce got the three runs back in the bottom of the eighth to push the lead back up to 11-3. Merrimack scratched out a run in the top of the ninth to create the 11-4 final.
Information for this release provided by the Athletic Communications/Sports Information staffs at Adelphi, New Haven, Stonehill and Franklin Pierce.
