BOX SCORE WEST HAVEN, Conn. - Joey Royer (Westbrook, Maine/Cheverus) and Frank Vilacha (Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth) combined to fire a three-hit shutout to lead the University of New Haven baseball team to a 1-0 victory over Le Moyne in the Northeast-10 Championship First Round on Wednesday afternoon at Frank Vieira Field. The Chargers scored the lone run of the day on a passed ball in the eighth inning.
 
With the win, New Haven improves to 23-11. The Chargers, who are the second-seeded team in the Northeast-10 Southwest Division, advance to NE-10 Championship Weekend. The four-team, double-elimination tournament will be hosted by Southern New Hampshire, the top seed in the NE-10 Northeast Division, by virtue of the 9-1 win for the Penmen over Bentley this afternoon. Le Moyne concludes its spring at 19-23.
 
Royer spun the first seven innings for the Blue and Gold. The southpaw, who also tossed a complete game shutout when he faced the Dolphins in Syracuse on April 27, scattered three singles, four walks and three hit batters. Vilacha (3-2) entered the game in a two-on, none-out jam in the eighth and stranded the runners then fired a perfect ninth to pick up the victory in relief. Both New Haven hurlers struck out two batters.
 
Le Moyne right-hander Ryan O'Kane traded zeroes with Royer for seven innings. The rookie hurler carried a no-hitter into the seventh, allowing just one single and two walks while striking out six. Left-hander Ryan Davis (2-9) took the hard-luck loss, as he was tagged with an unearned run in his inning out of the bullpen.
 
Tom Walraven (Pine Bush, N.Y./Pine Bush) and Zach Collett (Westbrook, Maine/Westbrook) managed the only two hits for the Chargers, and Eddie Tammaro (South Hempstead, N.Y./South Side) scored the lone run of the afternoon.
 
Royer dialed up back-to-back strikeouts to strand two runners in the first, and also left a single runner on in the third and fifth innings. The southpaw again froze two runners on the basepaths in the seventh before walking the first two batters he faced in the eighth and giving way to Vilacha.
 
The senior right-hander got the first out when Pat Wright dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners 90 feet. Vilacha then induced a strikeout of Trey West for the second out and snagged a line drive off the bat of Nate Reynolds to get out of the jam and maintain the scoreless deadlock.
 
New Haven scratched out a run in the home half of the eighth, as TJ Riccio (Port Jeff Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) struck out swinging but reached on a passed ball to lead off the frame. Davis then got the first out of the inning, and Tammaro replaced Riccio at first base on a fielder's choice groundout for the second out. Walraven followed with a single to put runners on the corners, and the first pitch from Davis to Andrew Johnson (Branford, Conn./Branford / Wheaton) skipped off the glove of catcher Matt Buroni and to the backstop as Tammaro raced home to stake the Chargers to a 1-0 lead.
 
Vilacha retired the side in order in the top of the ninth, capping the thrilling victory for the Chargers.
 
The Chargers will continue the hunt for their second consecutive Northeast-10 Championship on Friday, May 9 in Manchester, N.H. Further details surrounding NE-10 Championship Weekend will be available on NewHavenChargers.com as they are finalized by the conference office.