WORCESTER, Mass. – With help from his defense, Shea Ryan (North Chelmsford, Mass.) threw a no-hitter as the Assumption University baseball team defeated Le Moyne by a 4-0 score to stay alive in the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament on Thursday at Rocheleau Field. The Greyhounds also dropped a 9-3 decision to Adelphi earlier in the day.

Game One: Adelphi 9, Assumption 3

In their opening game of the championship round, the Greyhounds went ahead by a 3-0 score by plating one run in the second and two in the third as the visiting team on the scoreboard. With runners at first and second and two down, senior Connor Wironen (Leominster, Mass.) singled to center to give Assumption a 1-0 advantage. One frame later, sophomore Jack Barry (Bridgewater, Mass.) hit an RBI double to left center and then came home when junior Christopher Rabias (Chelmsford, Mass.) chopped a ball down the third base line that took a weird hop and stayed fair.

Adelphi, however, hung around and responded with nine unanswered runs to close out the game. After scoring twice in the fourth and once in the fifth to tie things up, the Panthers used a six-run seventh inning to pull away. Greyhound starter Patrick Harrington (Bedford, N.H.) intentionally walked Matt Alifano to load the bases with one out to create a force at every base, and Anthony Cipri broke the deadlock by shooting a single up the middle to score two.

With a new Greyhound pitcher on the mound, Adelphi continued its run by hitting three straight singles to add insurance markers. Freshman Alexander Meesig (Nashua, N.H.) got out of the major jam by inducing a groundout and catching Cooper Johnson looking, but the damage had been done. Reliever Tommy O'Sullivan settled in, and despite having to deal with runners on the corners in the top of the ninth, the Panther hurler caught the last Greyhound he faced looking to end the game.

O'Sullivan picked up the win for Adelphi (30-11-2) and improved to 2-0 by throwing 2.1 shutout innings of relief in which he recorded three strikeouts, allowed just two hits, and did not issue a walk. Harrington took the loss after being charged with seven runs, which were all earned, and giving up six hits in 6.1 innings of work. He fanned nine and walked four.

Game Two: Assumption 4, Le Moyne 0

Facing elimination in its second game of the day, Assumption regrouped and downed Le Moyne by getting timely hitting, a gem on the mound from Ryan, and excellent defense in both the infield and outfield.

Senior Nick Gagliotti (West Hartford, Conn.) broke a scoreless tie by slapping a two-run double down the first base line in the top of the second, as the Greyhounds once again batted as the visitors due to the result of a coin toss. Insurance runs came home when junior Emilio Acosta (Cromwell, Conn.) reached on a fielder's choice in the seventh and Rabias followed with a two-run shot down the line in right in the eighth frame.

Ryan, meanwhile, controlled the mound with Rabias making calls from behind the plate. Le Moyne (26-23) was only able to draw walks and get an additional base runner as the result of an infield error. His defense also helped him out, as Wironen and Acosta made diving catches in center and right field, respectively, and junior Kevin Cox (North Kingstown, R.I.) and Gaglioti came up with key plays at third base and first base over the course of the game. Ryan eventually retired the three Dolphins he saw in the ninth in order, which was capped by a flyout to left, in the bottom of the ninth to seal the no-hitter and victory for the Greyhounds.

Ryan's impressive stat line to move his record to 5-3 this season also included recording three strikeouts and issuing four walks for Assumption. Le Moyne's Joe Vail took the loss after surrendering three runs, including two earned, and seven hits over the course of 6.1 frames. He registered six strikeouts and walked two Greyhound batters.

Assumption (23-22) will return to action on Friday to next face the loser of the winner's bracket game between Adelphi and Southern New Hampshire in what will be another elimination game. The first matchup between the Panthers and Penmen starts at noon, and the second game featuring the Greyhounds will commence 35 minutes afterwards.