Colchester, Vt. (April 6) -- The Assumption College baseball team split a doubleheader with Saint Michael's College at Doc Jacobs Field on Saturday afternoon. The Greyhounds took game one by a 5-3 final before dropping game two by a 6-5 final in 10 innings.

Trailing 1-0 heading into the fifth inning, the Greyhounds used a five-run fifth inning to propel the team to a victory in the first game. Graduate student Ben Benigno (Trumbull, Conn. / Trumbull) led off the fifth inning with a single. Benigno advanced to second on a four-pitch walk issued to freshman Colin Clancy (Chelmsford, Mass. / Chelmsford). The Greyhounds scored their first run as junior Bret Clark (Bristol, Conn. / Bristol Central) hit a ground ball to the Purple Knights third baseman, who threw the ball away, advancing Benigno two bases to even the score at one with no outs.

Following a pop out, senior Shane Keddy (Worcester, Mass. / Worcester Tech) drove in a run with a double to give the Greyhounds a 2-1 lead before sophomore Billy Johnson (Auburn, Mass. / Holy Name) extended the Greyhound lead to four with a two-RBI single to right field. After stealing to second and advancing to third on a passed ball, Johnson scored on a sacrifice fly by senior Nick Napoli (Medford, Mass / Boston College). The Greyhounds scored five runs on three hits to take a 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Purple Knights answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame, but wouldn't get any closer as the Greyhound bullpen closed the game with 4.1 innings of shutout ball. Junior Cody Rocha (Fall River, Mass. / B.M.C. Durfee) earned the win, pitching three innings of two-hit ball out of the bullpen. He struck out three while facing 10 batters, one over the minimum.

Senior Dan Bradley (Moodus, Conn. / Hale Ray) picked up his fourth save of the season, pitching 1.1 innings, walking one and striking out one.

In game two the Greyhounds dropped a 6-5 final in 10 innings. Assumption scored three times in the top of the ninth to tie the game and send it into extra innings. Clancy and Keddy had RBI singles in the ninth, while Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to tie the game at five.

Saint Michael's jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second on three singles, but couldn't extend the lead beyond one in the frame. The Purple Knights capitalized on a leadoff error in the fourth and scored two runs in the inning to extend the lead to three after four innings.

The Greyhounds rebounded in the top of the fifth, capitalizing on back-to-back walks to Travis Smith (Coventry, R.I. / Bishop Hendricken) and Clancy to start the inning. Keddy, the next batter, singled to left field, but Smith was thrown out at the plate. With one out, Johnson was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. After a fly out, Benigno came through with a two-out, two-RBI single to center field, cutting the Purple Knight lead to one, 3-2.

Saint Michael's added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth for a 5-2 lead, setting up the Greyhounds rally in the top of the ninth.

After the Greyhounds tied the score, the Purple Knights won the game on a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th.

Assumption moves to 7-17 on the season and 3-6 in Northeast-10 Conference while Saint Michael's is now 6-15 overall and 3-8 in league play.

The Greyhounds will return to action on Sunday, April 7th at Saint Anselm College. The first game of the doubleheader will begin at noon in Manchester, N.H.

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