Melbourne, Fla. (February 21) -- On Saturday afternoon in the team's season opener, the Assumption College baseball team dropped a pair of games to No. 21 ranked Florida Tech in non-conference action. The Hounds fell 15-2 in game two, followed by a 7-3 final in the second game.

In the opener, the Panthers jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the first and built that advantage to 14-0 thru the first six frames. FIT got to Assumption starter Kevin O'Connor (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) for eight runs on eight hits thru three innings as he fell to 0-1 on the season. Freshman Mike Curtis (Wilmington, Mass./Wilmington) threw six innings in relief, followed by the final two innings from sophomore Tom Brengel (Hicksville, N.Y./Holy Trinity) as he allowed just two hits and one run.

The Hounds got on the board in the top of the seventh as sophomore Mike Coggeshall (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) came home on a fielder's choice for the first run of the season. In the eighth, sophomore Jake Byrne (Grafton, Mass./Saint John's) singled to short for the RBI as junior catcher Tom Paine (Upton, Mass./Nipmuc) came home after reaching base on a single to right.

For the game, Coggeshall, Byrne and Michael Panza (West Haven, Conn./Notre Dame) each picked up a pair of hits as the Hounds had 10 hits overall. Ashton Fronsoe picked up the win for the Panthers to improve to 3-0 as he scattered five hits with three strikeouts and no walks over six innings pitched.

In the nightcap, the Hounds jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the third as Panza reached on a leadoff single to right center and came home on a two-out single down the left field line from senior Greg O'Donnell (Northbridge, Mass./Northbridge). Freshman catcher Andrew Jaehnig (Quincy, Mass./Boston College), making his first college start, extended the Assumption lead to 2-0 in the top of the fourth as he scored on a two-out single thru the left side by sophomore shortstop Matt Murphy (Wakefield, R.I./Bishop Hendricken).

The Panthers answered in the bottom of the fourth with a five-run inning as FIT had three hits, including a two-RBI double to left center by second baseman Reid Neal. Florida Tech added a single run in the seventh before both teams struck for a single run in the eighth to close out the scoring. For Assumption in the eighth, Byrne's sacrifice fly to center scored O'Donnell for the team's third run.

Junior Anthony Perry (Shrewsbury, Mass./Saint John's) took the loss for the Hounds to drop to 0-1 as he went five innings, allowing five earned runs on four hits with six walks and two strikeouts. Freshman Kyle Chudoba (Oxford, Conn./Oxford) threw three innings of five-hit relief in his first collegiate appearance, allowing two earned runs. Scott Ward picked up the win for the Panthers to improve to 4-0 as he went six innings, scattering six hits with two earned runs and two strikeouts.

Panza went 2-for-5 at the plate, along with two hits each from O'Donnell and Murphy. Overall, the teams each finished the second game with nine hits.

Assumption falls to 0-2 overall with the losses, while Florida Tech remains perfect at 11-0 for the season.

Assumption is back in action on Sunday afternoon as the Hounds take on Florida Tech for the final contest of the three-game set beginning at Noon.

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