Box Score THE BASICS
-Score: Assumption University 10, Stonehill College 4
-Records: Assumption (12-10), Stonehill (17-15)
-Location: Worcester, Mass. (Rocheleau Field)
-The Lead: The Assumption University baseball team defeated the Skyhawks of Stonehill College in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship Divisional First Round game at home on Tuesday. The Hounds used a five-run inning in the bottom of the seventh to lift them to a 10-4 final victory. Assumption moves on to compete in the NE10 Championship Division Semifinal game on Thursday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-Assumption used three hits in the bottom of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead. Graduate student Matt Lonardo (Cranston, RI / Cranston / URI) started the bats with a single to right center and advanced to second on an error by the Skyhawks. With two outs on the board, his classmate Matt Schneider (Dalton, Mass. / Wahconah Regional) earned an RBI with a single to right center that scored Lonardo (1-0).
-The Hounds put up another run in the bottom of the second when senior Dillon Zona (Shrewsbury, Mass. / Shrewsbury) crossed home on an RBI double to right field by junior Connor Wironen (Leominster, Mass. / Saint Bernard's) (2-0).
-Stonehill got one run back in the top of the third. Senior Rob Duarte scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by sophomore Conor Kiely (2-1). The Hounds got out of the inning with a strikeout by senior pitcher Cole Chudoba (Oxford, Conn. / Oxford), leaving two runners stranded.
-The Skyhawks put up three hits and scored one run in the top of the fourth to tie the game at two. Junior Noah Lucier led off with a single to center field and came home on an RBI single up the middle by first year Trey Ciulla-Hall (2-2).
-Assumption and Stonehill traded runs with sacrifice flies in the bottom of the sixth and top of the seventh to sit at an even 3-3.
-Assumption rallied on for five runs in the bottom of the seventh to pull ahead 8-3. Graduate student Jared Brescia (Brentwood, N.H. / Exeter) led off with a double to center and crossed home when Wironen reached on an error by the visitors (4-3). After a pitching change for Stonehill, graduate student Derek Adamson (Chelmsford, Mass. / Chelmsford) walked and Schneider reached on another error for an RBI and the 5-3 lead. With two runners on graduate student R.J. Libby (Middleton, Mass. / Bishop Fenwick) sent a homerun over the right field fence for three RBIs and the 8-3 advantage.
-Stonehill put up one more run in the top of the eighth to pull within four, but the Hounds used a two-RBI single to right center by Adamson and a one-two-three top of the ninth, including two strikeouts by junior pitcher, Patrick Harrington (Bedford, N.H. / Bedford), to capture the 10-4 final victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
-Libby led the Hounds at the plate going 4-for-5 with a homerun, three RBIs and one run scored. The Hounds finished the day with 13 total hits.
-Duarte led Stonehill going 2-for-2 with a triple and two runs scored. The visitors posted seven hits in the setback.
-Chudoba earned the win on the mound for Assumption, improving to 4-1 on the season. He went seven innings, struck out six batters, allowed six hits and just two earned runs. Harrington came in for relief, pitching two innings and striking out two batters.
-Senior Michael White falls to 3-3 on the mounds for Stonehill. He pitched 6.1 innings, struck out four batters, allowed seven hits and three earned runs.
UP NEXT
-Assumption travels to Southern New Hampshire University on Thursday, May 13th for the NE10 Championship Divisional Semifinal game at 4:00 p.m.
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