MANCHESTER, N.H. – Left-hander Pat Simone (Branford, Conn./Branford) and righty Peter Jay (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) combined on a five-hit shutout in game one to guide the University of New Haven baseball team to a doubleheader split at No. 13/17 Southern New Hampshire. The Chargers took game one, 5-0, and dropped the nightcap by a score of 6-1.
Following the split, New Haven stands at 16-6 overall. The Penmen, ranked nationally in both major national polls and slotted at No. 1 in the East Region on all three major regional ledgers, move to 20-8. Northeast-10 cross-divisional games do not count in the conference standings.
Simone scattered three hits, two walks and hit batsman in eight shutout innings of work. The southpaw racked up 11 strikeouts en route to improving his record to 4-0 and shrinking his season earned run average to 1.69. Jay posted a zero in the ninth to run his streak to 14.1 scoreless frames to begin the season.
Offensively, Andrew Johnson (Branford, Conn./Branford / Wheaton) went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in in the opener, while Zach Collett (Westbrook, Maine/Westbrook) and Kyle Cullen (Dumont, N.J./Dumont) each had a base-hit and an RBI. Brendan O’Reilly scored two runs and stole a base, while Chris DeMorais (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single and also stole two bases.
In Game 2, Stephen Clout (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern) and O’Reilly had New Haven’s two hits while Brendon Buckley (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) scored the Chargers’ lone run. Clout and Buckley each swiped a base as well.
Game 1
The Chargers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Clout was hit by a pitch to leadoff the game and moved to second on a Buckley sacrifice. O’Reilly walked and Joe Romanelli (Baldwin, N.Y./Holy Trinity) was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs for Johnson, who ripped a two-run single to left field to pick up his 10th and 11th runs batted in of the spring.
In the top of the third frame, New Haven once again pushed a run across with one only base-hit. O’Reilly worked his second walk of the game with one out and DeMorais singled to put runners on the corners. After Romanelli was again hit by a pitch, Collett drew a two-out bases loaded walk to plate a run and chase Gibson from the game after just 2.2 innings.
With Simone continuing the post zeroes, the Chargers extended their margin to 4-0 in the top of the sixth inning as Collett started the frame with a double, moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Nunziato and came around the final 90 feet on a Cullen RBI single.
The Chargers added an unearned run in the top of the eighth inning, as Johnson singled with one out and later crossed the plate on a fielding error in the SNHU infield to run the score to its final of 5-0.
David Gibson took the loss, surrendering three earned runs on two hits and three walks while striking out six.
Game 2
New Haven opened the scoring in the nightcap as well. After two quick outs, Buckley worked a walk and moved into scoring position on an O’Reilly base knock. A Penmen defensive miscue allowed the run to score as a fielding error at the hot corner brought Buckley around from second base to give the Chargers a 1-0 lead.
Southern New Hampshire got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an unearned tally of its own. Jon Minucci was hit by a pitch with one out, took second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a groundout and came home via a passed ball as the Penmen tied the score at 1-1 without the benefit of a base-hit in the inning.
The home team took its first lead of the twin bill on a Brendan O’Brien RBI double and extended the margin to 3-1 on a run-scoring wild pitch in the fifth. SNHU tacked on three more runs in the bottom of seventh to round out the final score of 6-1.
Henry Hirsch (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale) started on the mound for New Haven and took the loss. He ceded two earned runs on four hits and three walks with two hit batsmen. The right-hander struck out four batters while dropping to 2-2. Derek Drag (South Meriden, Conn./O.H. Platt / Manchester C.C.) and TJ Margiotta (New City, N.Y./Clarkstown North) finished the game for the Chargers.
Joe McCarthy notched the win for SNHU, allowing just one unearned run on two hits. Alex Powers picked up the save with three innings of hitless relief.
The Chargers return to the diamond tomorrow with another round of Northeast-10 cross-divisional action at No. 30 Franklin Pierce. The doubleheader from Rindge is set for noon. The Ravens swept Southern Connecticut State this afternoon to improve to 20-9.
