BOX SCORE HOOKSETT, N.H. – The University of New Haven baseball team dropped its Northeast-10 Championship Weekend opener on Friday with an 8-1 defeat to tournament host and No. 18 nationally-ranked Southern New Hampshire. The Chargers return to the diamond on Saturday at 10 a.m. for an elimination game against Adelphi.
 
New Haven (23-12) must now win four consecutive elimination games to win its second consecutive Northeast-10 Championship. The Penmen (37-12) will meet Stonehill at 2 p.m. tomorrow for a trip to Sunday's final round. The loser of the SNHU/Stonehill game will meet the winner of the New Haven/Adelphi game at 6 p.m. on Saturday in another elimination game.

Brendon Buckley (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) accounted for the lone Charger run with a solo home run. The fifth roundtripper of the season for the First Team All-Northeast-10 talent staked New Haven to a 1-0 lead in the second inning before the Penmen ran off the final eight runs of the afternoon to take the 8-1 decision.
 
Buckley went 3-for-4 on the day, adding a double and a single to his solo shot. Northeast-10 co-Rookie of the Year Tom Walraven (Pine Bush, N.Y./Pine Bush) had two hits from the leadoff spot in the New Haven lineup, while Chris DeMorais (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) and TJ Riccio (Port Jeff Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) each singled in the loss.
 
Left-hander Pat Simone (Branford, Conn./Branford) took the ball for the Chargers. Simone (4-3) was charged with all eight runs on 11 hits in 6.2 innings of work. The Third Team All-NE-10 hurler struck out nine batters and did not issue walk. Connor Moriarty (Branford, Conn./Branford) notched the final four outs the complete the effort on the mound.
 
Tim Viehoff earned the win for the Penmen to improve to 5-2. He allowed earned run on six hits and one walk while striking out 10 batters in 6.2 innings of work. Ben Criscuolo entered with two down in the seventh and retired the potential tying run, then finished off the game to earn his conference-best 13th save.
 
The defending Northeast-10 Champion Chargers took two games from a three-game set at Adelphi on May 3-4 to conclude the regular season. New Haven has not challenged Stonehill this spring, but swept a doubleheader from the Skyhawks in 2013.