THE BASICS:
- Score: Assumption 7, Saint Michael's 4 (Game one); Saint Michael's 6, Assumption 1 (Game two)
- Records: Assumption (19-13, 7-7 NE10), Saint Michael's (6-18, 3-12 NE10)
- Location: Colchester, Vt. (Doc Jacobs Field)
- The Lead: After moving the start up to 10 a.m. in an attempt to beat the weather, the Assumption Greyhounds used a pinch-hit single by Jake Hamel (Uxbridge, Mass. / Saint John's) to win 7-4 in game one. They then fell to tough pitching in game two, losing 6-1, to split Sunday's doubleheader with the Saint Michael's Purple Knights.
HOW IT HAPPENED: GAME ONE
-With the bases loaded and two out in the eighth, Hamel pinch-hit in the ninth-spot for the Hounds. Batting with a .343 average and at least one hit in each of his last seven appearances, Hamel sent a ball into left field that scored two on the play, putting the Hounds up for good at 5-4. MacGuire O'Sullivan (Durham, Conn. / Coginchaug Regional) sat down the next six Purple Knights in a row while the Hounds added two more in the ninth to secure the 7-4 victory.
-Assumption went down 4-3 just a half inning prior to Hamel's hit. Saint Michael's loaded the bases and then scored one run on two errors to bring the game within 3-2. Sebastian Oetterer and Trevor Allen then walked in a run each, putting their team up 4-3. O'Sullivan forced a double-play to short to keep the game within one.
-Jared Brescia (Brentwood, N.H. / Exeter) singled in a run and Connor Wironen (Leominster, Mass. / Saint Bernard's) produced a two-RBI double in the second to put the Hounds up 3-0. Starter James McNamara (Westford, Mass. / Westford Academy) retired 11 out of the first 12 batters he faced before giving up a run on a dropped third strike in the fourth to make it 3-1 Hounds.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
-Hamel stretched his hit streak to eight games by going 1-for-2 off the bench. A freshman, Hamel is now hitting to a slash line of .351/.442/.622 in 15 games and 37 at-bats to go along with nine runs and six extra base hits that includes two home runs after game one.
-R.J. Libby (Middleton, Mass. / Bishop Fenwick) also extended his hit streak to 12 games by going 2-for-5 with one run. Wironen went 2-for-3 with two RBIs at the plate.
-McNamara went 6 1/3 innings and allowed four runs but zero earned on four hits and three walks while striking out seven. McNamara has found success on the road, allowing only five runs (one earned) in his last two road starts. During that same span, He has allowed only seven hits and seven walks while striking out 11 in 14 innings pitched. O'Sullivan improved to 2-3 by earning the win in relief. He allowed only one walk and no runs on no hits while striking out four in 2 2/3 innings. He has not allowed a run in his last 9 2/3 innings.
HOW IT HAPPENED: GAME TWO
-Saint Michael's starter Max McDowell kept the Hounds at bay throughout game two, allowing only one run on five hits and one walk while striking out five in eight innings of work in his team's 6-1 win over the Hounds. Assumption scored once in the top of the second on a wild pitch, but couldn't do much else as McDowell sat down 14 of the next 16 batters he faced.
-The Hounds only other chance to produce runs came in the seventh when they had runners on second and third with one out. However, McDowell forced a flyout to short right and a foul out to first to end the inning untouched.
-The Purple Knights got to Hounds starter Mike Curtis (Wilmington, Mass. / Wilmington High School) early on in their win, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first on a single, walk and fielder's choice. They added one more in the sixth off reliever Kyle Autilio (Saugus, Mass. / Saugus High School) on a bases-loaded walk to Oetterer and added two more in the seventh on a sacrifice fly to right and a single that stretched their lead to 6-1. Derek Adamson (Chelmsford, Mass. / Chelmsford) singled and moved to second on a wild pitch as his team's first at-bat against Allen, who moved from first onto the mound for the ninth. Allen then set down the Hounds in order on three strikeouts to end any kind of threat the Hounds may have created.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
-McDowell improved to 1-3 on the year with the win and dropped his ERA from 8.05 to 6.00 with his performance. Curtis earned his first loss on the season, dropping to 3-1, but also improved his ERA to 6.44 while striking out five in five innings of work. He gave up three runs on five hits and three walks in the loss.
-Libby's hit streak ended in game two after he went 0-for-4. Adamson scored the team's only run while going 1-for-3 in game two. Harrison Stampler, Cameron Kroeger and Julien Giroux-Harvey had two hits and one run each for the Purple Knights, while Kroeger also had two walks.
UP NEXT:
- The Hounds travel to Merrimack for a conference game against the Warriors on Tuesday, April 16, with first pitch set for 7 p.m. Tuesday's game will be played at LeLaucher Park, a neutral location in Lowell, Mass.
STAY CONNECTED:
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