BOX SCORE 1 |
BOX SCORE 2 Box Score (Game One)
Box Score (Game Two)
WEST HAVEN, Conn. - The University of New Haven baseball team split a doubleheader with the nationally ranked No. 15 Franklin Pierce University Saturday afternoon and earned a spot in the 2011 Northeast-10 Conference Baseball Championship tournament. The Chargers took the opener, clinching a spot in the tournament, by a score of 10-1. The Ravens rebounded with an 11-4 victory in the nightcap which was delayed numerous times due to lightning in the area. The Chargers concluded the regular season with a 26-17 overall record and a 14-12 conference mark. Franklin Pierce concluded the season with a 35-11 overall record and a 19-9 NE-10 mark.
Game One
New Haven allowed two base runners in the top of the first inning and a single in the end of the inning nearly gave them an early lead. Right fielder Stephen Clout helped keep the score 0-0 when he gunned down a runner at home to end the inning. The Chargers answered in the bottom of the inning. Clout led off the bats with a double down the left field line. Tom Rombilus and Shane O’Connell each walked to load the bases with one out. Back-to-back strike outs for the Ravens concluded the inning with the score still 0-0.
After retiring the side in the top of the inning, UNH went on and scored four runs off four hits and one Franklin Pierce error. Clout drove in one run, while O’Connell recorded a single and also drove in a run.
Franklin Pierce’s one run came in the top of the fourth inning. Zach Mathieu scored an unearned run off an error to bring the score to 4-1. New Haven added another four runs in the bottom of the fourth to take an 8-1 lead. David Wirkus drove in a pair of runs with a double to left center, while Ryan Brockett and Chris DeMorais each drove in one run in the inning.
New Haven starting pitcher Henry Hirsch held the Ravens scoreless through the remaining innings, while the Chargers added one in the bottom of the fifth and one in the bottom of the sixth to secure the 10-1 victory. Hirsch earned his third win in eight complete innings, while Taylor Candage pitched one inning in relief. Hirsch threw three strike outs and allowed six hits and no earned runs. Candage struck out one and closed the game for the Chargers.
The UNH bats were led by Wirkus with three hits, two RBI’s and one run scored. Brockett also record three hits and added two runs and one RBI. Clout went 3-for-5 with two runs and one RBI.
Game Two
The Chargers gave up one run in the top of the opening inning, but they answered in the bottom of the first with two runs off three hits to take a 2-1 lead. After a scoreless second, the Ravens added two in the top of the third inning to take a 3-2 lead, a lead they would not lose for the remainder of the game.
Franklin Pierce added a run in the fourth, five runs in the fifth and one run in the sixth to take a 10-2 lead heading into the seventh. The Chargers left two runners on base in the fifth, but could not muster another run until the bottom of the seventh. Brockett singled and drove in a run in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Ravens lead to seven, 10-3. Ken Bilodeau drove in another run in the bottom of the eighth inning for the Chargers to bring the score to 10-4.
Franklin Pierce added one more run in the top of the ninth inning to secure an 11-4 victory.
Brockett led the team with two hits and one RBI, while Rombilus went 1-for2 with one RBI and one run scored. The Chargers threw five different pitchers in the loss, while Kris Selvaggi suffered his first loss of the season.
New Haven heads to the Northeast-10 Conference Championship as either the fifth or sixth seed, depending on other results around the conference. Here's a look at the top six standings headed into Sunday.
| Team |
Conf. Games |
Conf. Record |
Conf. Win % |
Games |
Overall Record |
Overall Win % |
| So. Connecticut |
26 |
21-4-1 |
0.827 |
42 |
37-4-1 |
0.893 |
| Adelphi |
25 |
18-6-1 |
0.74 |
43 |
30-11-2 |
0.721 |
| Franklin Pierce |
26 |
19-7-0 |
0.731 |
46 |
35-11-0 |
0.761 |
| UMass Lowell |
26 |
18-8-0 |
0.692 |
45 |
35-10-0 |
0.778 |
| Stonehill |
24 |
13-11-0 |
0.542 |
46 |
30-16-0 |
0.652 |
| New Haven |
26 |
14-12-0 |
0.538 |
43 |
26-17-0 |
0.605 |
