BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven baseball team completed its regular season home schedule on Friday afternoon with a doubleheader against Northeast-10 Southwest Division opponent Saint Rose. Kyle Cullen (Dumont, N.J./Dumont) went 5-for-7 with four RBI in the twinbill, while John Melville (Ulster Park, N.Y./Kingston) did not cede an earned run in seven innings of work in the nightcap.
 
After the split, the Chargers move to 17-9 overall, 12-7 in the Northeast-10 and 7-4 in the NE-10 Southwest Division. Saint Rose now boasts a 13-23 record with a 9-10 NE-10 mark and a 7-6 divisional tally.
 
Cullen's 5-for-7 day included a double, a triple and a home run as well as a stolen base. Zach Collett (Westbrook, Maine/Westbrook) went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, and Chris DeMorais (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) pounded out three hits.
 
Melville (3-2) surrendered just a pair of unearned runs en route to the victory in game two. The senior right-hander scattered three hits and a walk while racking up seven strikeouts.
 
Game 1 (Saint Rose 5, New Haven 3)
The Chargers struck first in the opener, jumpstarted by an Andrew Johnson (Branford, Conn./Branford / Wheaton) walk with one down in the first inning. Brendan O'Reilly followed with a sacrifice bunt to move him into scoring position, and DeMorais capitalized with a two-out RBI single to stake New Haven to a 1-0 advantage.
 
Mike Flynn's sacrifice fly in the top of the second knotted the score at 1-1, which held into the bottom of the fourth inning.

DeMorais led off the frame with a single and promptly stole second. After Brendon Buckley (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) worked a walk and DeMorais took third on a wild pitch, TJ Riccio (Port Jeff Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) lifted a sacrifice fly to bring across the go-ahead run. Cullen followed with a triple to straight-away centerfield,  plating Buckley all the way from first to extend the lead to 3-1.
 
The Golden Knights responded with a run in their next trip to the dish on Zac Bellinger's RBI single and took the lead in the top of the sixth on RBI hits from Ryan Hooker and Derek Reed. Saint Rose rounded out the 5-3 final on an eighth-inning RBI single by Flynn.
 
Pat Simone (Branford, Conn./Branford) took the loss for the Chargers, falling to 4-2. The left-hander ceded four runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out two over six innings. Fellow southpaw Vincent Aprea (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) worked the final three frames, surrendering one run on three hits and one walk.
 
Coby Schwartz (5-2) earned the win for Saint Rose. He was charged with all three earned runs on five hits and four walks. Joe Pokrentowski turned in 2.1 frames of middle relief, and Chris Gould recorded his fifth save with a perfect ninth.
 
Game 2 (New Haven 7, Saint Rose 3)
The Chargers began the scoring once again in the nightcap with an unearned run in the bottom of the second frame. Buckley started the inning with a walk and Cullen kept the inning alive with a two out single to put runners on the corners. Nick Russo (Shirley, N.Y./William Floyd) followed with a sharply hit groundball off the glove of the shortstop Flynn to score Buckley with the game's first run.
 
Saint Rose responded with two unearned runs in the top of the third, claiming what would prove to be the only advantage of the day for the visitors at 2-1. Scott Hladik hit an RBI single in the stanza.
 
The lead was short-lived, with New Haven hanging five runs in the home half of the third. All of the offense came with two outs, starting with a DeMorais single. Buckley followed with a bunt single, and Collett ripped a double down the left field line to score DeMorais and tie the contest at 2-2. After an error scored both Buckley and Collett and kept the inning alive, Cullen deposited the first pitch he saw over the wall in left centerfield for his first home run of the spring. The roundtripper extended the Chargers' lead to 6-2.
 
The Blue and Gold tacked on an insurance tally in the fifth on a Collett double followed by a Cullen RBI single.
 
The margin held into the eighth inning, when Bellinger scored on a wild pitch to pull Saint Rose within four runs. However, Buckley would move from third base to the mound in the ninth and close the door on the 7-3 victory.
 
After Melville strong seven innings, Frank Vilacha (Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth) worked the eighth and Buckley tossed a perfect ninth featuring two strikeouts.
 
Left-hander Bryan Carr (0-6) started and took the loss for the Golden Knights. He allowed seven runs (two earned) on 10 hits and one walk over five innings. Carmine Vricciariello completed the effort on the hill with three innings of scoreless relief.
 
The Chargers begin a season-ending, seven-game road swing tomorrow with a 3 p.m. contest at Le Moyne. All of New Haven's remaining regular season games are against NE-10 Southwest Division opponents.