Baseball drops heart-breaker at Saint Michael's, 7-4
St. Michael's
St. Michael's (9-25, 6-18) 0 1 1 1 0 0 3 1 X 7 10 3
2B: Matthew Butigian; Daniel Baker
3B: Peyton Goodrich
HR: Julien Giroux-Harvey
COLCHESTER, Vt. – The Saint Anselm College baseball team was on the losing end of a 7-4 decision at Saint Michael's College on Tuesday.
Saint Anselm dips to 6-33 overall on the season, falling to 2-22 against Northeast-10 Conference opponents. Saint Michael's moves to 9-25 overall, winning its sixth NE10 fixture of the season in 24 tries. The Hawks head to Stonehill this Thursday, May 2 for a 3:30 p.m. showdown with the Skyhawks.
The Hawks had two different one-run leads in the contest, including a 4-3 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, but a leadoff error by Saint Anselm led to three runs scoring. Saint Michael's tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth, capturing the three-run victory at home.
Down by a 1-0 margin, Saint Anselm pushed across two runs in the top of the third inning. Senior Connor Parent (Katy, Texas) drew a leadoff walk and came around to score on an RBI triple by freshman Peyton Goodrich (Portsmouth, N.H.). After a strikeout, senior Tyler McKeon (Rutland, Mass.) came through in the clutch, lifting a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Goodrich for the team's second run.
Saint Michael's tacked on single runs in the third and fourth innings before the Hawks tied the game at three in the top of the sixth. Following a double to center field by sophomore Matthew Butigian (Plainview, N.Y.), classmate Max Silverman (Westford, Mass.) was able to reach base on a fielding error by the Saint Michael's third baseman, whose miscue also allowed Butigian to score.
Freshman Drew Boli (Falmouth, Mass.) scored the Hawks fourth run in the top of the seventh inning, singling to left field with one out and later scoring on a go-ahead RBI double by freshman Daniel Baker (Reading, Mass.). The Hawks had two runners on, but Saint Michael's pitcher Cameron Cuellar was able to dance around the danger and escape the frame with only one run allowed.
After Trevor Allen reached on an error to begin the inning, the next batter, Cameron Kroeger, singled to left-center field. Allen came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Dante Moran. With two outs following a strikeout to the next batter, Julien Giroux-Harvey delivered the crushing blow to the Hawks, launching a two-run home run to right-center field that catapulted the hosts into the lead.
Hawks starter Brian Wojichowski (Portsmouth, R.I.) pitched seven innings, allowing six runs, three earned, while fanning six batters. Sophomore Danny Graceffa (Duxbury, Mass.) allowed one run in an inning of work, walking two batters and giving up a base hit.
Birch threw six innings, yielding only two earned runs, and striking out five batters. Cuellar picked up the win, improving to 3-0 with only one run allowed in three innings of relief work.