Yaphank, N.Y. (March 23) – In a Northeast-10 non-divisional doubleheader vs. Southern Connecticut, the Assumption College baseball team earned a doubleheader split with the Owls at Baseball Heaven on Long Island on Sunday afternoon. The Hounds took game one by a 10-6 final, followed by a 12-2 setback in game two. Assumption is currently receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) East Region Poll, while the Owls are ranked ninth in that poll.

In game one, Assumption jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first to seize control of the game. Junior Billy Johnson (Auburn, Mass./Holy Name) drove in senior Ysander Figueroa (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Tech) for the first run of the game on an RBI single. Junior Greg O'Donnell (Northbridge, Mass./Northbridge) followed that later in the inning with a two-RBI double that scored Johnson and sophomore Colin Clancy (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) for the 3-0 advantage. Freshman Mike Coggeshall (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) completed the first-inning outburst as his sacrifice fly to left scored O'Donnell from third.

The Hounds added three more runs in the top of the fourth, led by two-run homer by Clancy and an RBI sacrifice fly to center by O'Donnell. The Owls answered with four runs in the bottom of the fifth off Assumption starter Cody Rocha (Fall River, Mass./B.M.C. Durfee), who went five innings to pick up the win and improve to 1-1 overall. Keying the four-run inning for Southern Connecticut was third baseman T.K. Kiernan, who hit a three-run homer in the frame for his lone hit of the game.

Both teams scored single runs in the sixth, including the second home run in as many days by Figueroa as Assumption continued to lead 8-5 heading to the seventh. Assumption scored a pair in the top of the ninth with a home run by O'Donnell and an RBI single by freshman Matt Murphy (Wakefield, R.I./Bishop Hendricken) as the Hounds extended their lead to 10-5.

The Owls managed a single run in the bottom of the ninth off of Assumption reliever Bill King (Worcester, Mass./Holy Name), who pitched the eighth and ninth for the Hounds. Freshman Nick Fenuccio (Keene, N.H./Keene) also threw two innings of relief as he came in to start the sixth in place of Rocha.

Clancy led the Hounds with a 3-for-4 showing in the game with two runs scored and two RBI, while O'Donnell also had a pair of hits and a team-best four runs batted in. Figueroa, Johnson and Murphy each had two hits as the Hounds had a 12-hit attack in the win. Joe Breen led the Owls with a 3-for-5 game, along with three RBI by Kiernan.

Jordan Hamler took the loss for the Owls, going six innings while allowing nine hits and eight runs to fall to 1-1 overall.

In game two, the Owls put together 19 hits as Southern Connecticut earned the doubleheader split. SCSU took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first and eventually led 4-0 before Assumption answered with a single run in the top of the fourth as O'Donnell scored on an RBI groundout by sophomore Michael Panza (West Haven, Conn./Notre Dame). The Owls struck for multiple runs in the fifth, seventh and eighth innings to build the lead, while Assumption scored its second run of the game in the top of the seventh as senior Bret Clark (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Central) scored on an error by the SCSU shortstop.

Sophomore Ronnie Sampson (Jefferson, Mass./West Boylston) took the loss for the Hounds as he went four innings while allowing nine hits to drop to 0-2 on the season. Tyler Albrecht picked up the win for the Owls, going seven innings with five hits and seven strikeouts and he is now 1-1.

With the split, Assumption is 6-6 overall and 2-2 in the Northeast-10, while Southern Connecticut sits at 6-8-1 overall and 1-3 in league play.

Assumption is scheduled to be back in action on Tuesday, March 25th as the Hounds host American International for a 3:30 p.m. start. For the latest schedule updates, please check at www.assumptiongreyhounds.com.

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