This week in Suffolk University sports: Baseball stumbles through another week, lacrosse and softball pick up key conference ground and men’s tennis grabs pair of conference wins.
Baseball stumbles through another week
Chaos ensued when baseball took on UMass Boston April 9, rallying from a nine-run deficit after five innings to stun the Beacons with a 17-15 comeback win.
Trailing 11-2 after five, the Rams scored six times in the sixth inning on the strength of a bases-loaded walk, a run-scoring flyout, two RBI singles, an RBI double and a run scoring on a wild pitch. Suffolk scored five times in the eighth and four times in the ninth, including a home run by Jack Mihalchik. Nine pitchers were used by the Rams and seven by the Beacons in the offense-heavy showdown.
April 11 brought a Conference of New England doubleheader with the University of Hartford, a day that didn’t end very well for the Rams. Game one was a rout, with Hartford upending Suffolk 11-3.
The Hawks charged ahead 4-0 in the first inning. Suffolk scored twice in its half of the fourth and once in the fifth inning, but Hartford answered each time to widen the lead. Two more Hawks runs in the sixth made the score 11-3, which held for the remainder of the game. Anthony Ferreira was responsible for nine of the Hartford runs in his start for Suffolk, throwing four innings. Jonathan Marcotte allowed the other two in four innings of his own.
Game two was even more lopsided. Hartford started off red-hot and never looked back, running the Rams off the field in a dominating 21-2 mercy rule victory to secure the doubleheader sweep. In total, the Hawks outscored the Rams 32-5 across both games.
Hartford charged out to a 12-0 lead in the first inning, with Suffolk starting pitcher Ian Maude allowing 10 of those runs. He was lifted from the game before recording a single out. The Hawks scored once more in the second inning, three times in both the third and fourth, and twice in the fifth inning. Suffolk’s two runs came on a two-run home run in the sixth by Mike Mullaney.
Facing the Wentworth Institute of Technology April 14, the Rams had another double-digit loss, falling 16-5 to the Leopards.
The Leopards had four multi-run innings against Suffolk pitching, scoring three times in both the second and ninth and scoring four times in the third and seventh innings. John McDevitt’s scoreless eighth inning made him the only Rams pitcher with a clean sheet on the day.
Softball takes on double dose of conference doubleheaders
After more than a year without a home game, Softball played a CNE doubleheader against Gordon College at their new home, Griswold Park in Revere. The Rams swept the doubleheader, beating the Fighting Scots 5-1 in both games to rise to 14-11 overall.
Dana Still went 3-for-3 at the plate with three runs scored, and Kendal Heyman drove in three runs to pace the Rams’ offense in game one. Lily Newhall tossed a complete game on the mound, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out four Gordon hitters.
Catherine Carignan hit a solo home run and had two RBIs in game two, with Newhall adding an RBI double and Roma Braid contributing an RBI single. It was Cynthia Rucinski’s turn to throw a complete game on the mound, racking up nine strikeouts and allowing zero earned runs.
Suffolk faced another CNE rival in Roger Williams University April 12 for a doubleheader. Game one saw the Hawks prevail 4-3 in extra innings before shutting out the Rams 6-0 in game two.
Trailing 2-0 in the fifth inning, the Rams tied the game on a sacrifice fly by Carignan and a wild pitch that allowed Jolie Quintana to score. It remained 2-2 until extras began, and Carignan scored to give Suffolk a 3-2 lead in the eighth on a single by Julia Mills. A pair of RBI singles in the bottom of the inning for Roger Williams gave them a walk-off win, spoiling a strong start on the mound by Newhall, who struck out eight hitters in 7.1 innings pitched.
Roger Williams stormed out to a 3-0 lead in game two on an RBI double by Skye Merrow and a two-run home run off the bat of Hailey Williams. After a two-run fifth inning by the Hawks, Williams hit her second home run of the day in the sixth, a solo shot to make it 6-0. The Suffolk offense had no answers for Natalie Lundari on the mound, who allowed just four hits and a walk in a complete game.
Lacrosse wins back-to-back conference games
Lacrosse ended their losing streak at four games with a 9-6 victory against Western New England University April 8, improving to 3-4 in CNE play.
Suffolk stormed out to a 5-1 lead in the first quarter on the strength of two goals from Zoe Peckham and goals by Lauren Woods, Stella MacLelland and Jessie Le. Peckham led the team in goals with four, while Woods also had a two-goal day. Julia Dickinson had a multi-point day of her own with a goal and two assists.
Against Maine Maritime April 11, Suffolk lost by an identical 9-6 score in the Rams’ final non-conference game of the regular season. Despite holding the Mariners scoreless in the first period, Suffolk allowed three goals in each of the final three quarters.
Dickinson and Peckham each scored two goals for the Rams, with Charlotte Goodman and Carley Ehwa responsible for the other two goals. Charlotte Guziejka made five saves as the Rams outshot the Mariners 17-14 on the day.
The Rams bounced back in a big way against Wentworth April 14, with Ehwa and Peckham powering the offense in a dominant 18-6 victory over the Leopards.
After starting off slow with two goals in the first quarter, Suffolk scored five times in the second and third quarters, plus six in the fourth quarter as they tripled up Wentworth on the scoreboard. Ehwa had seven points on the day, scoring six goals with an assist. Peckham had a four-goal game, with MacLelland, Dickinson and Woods all having multi-goal games.
Men’s tennis picks up pair of conference wins
Facing Hartford at home April 8, men’s tennis dropped a 5-2 decision to the Hawks, falling to 1-6 overall. Suffolk’s two points both came in singles play, as Christian Gardner and Jason Yany picked up wins on courts two and five.
Suffolk’s five-match losing streak ended against the University of New England the next day, with the Rams outlasting the Nor’Easters 4-3. The Rams took the doubles point and a 1-0 lead into singles play, where both teams traded singles wins to leave things tied 3-3.
It came down to Suffolk’s Abhi Patel against Liam Miller of UNE on court two to decide the winner. It went 7-5, 6-4 and 6-3 to finish, giving Patel the win to secure the point and match for the Rams.
Suffolk made it two wins in a row April 11 against Curry College, breezing past the Colonels 5-2 to move to 3-6, with every match being against a CNE opponent.
The Rams won the doubles point and took a 1-0 lead into singles play once again. Gardner, Yany, Gabriel Soave and Nicolas Calderon all won their singles matches to give Suffolk their five points. Eric Flynn and Brady Antaya of the Colonels won on courts two and three to avoid a shutout loss for Curry.
Against Colby-Sawyer College at home April 14, the Rams fell 6-1, costing themselves a chance to further gain ground in the CNE standings. The only point on the day came from Gardner, who won his singles match to avoid the shutout.
Track & Field travels to Connecticut College
Track & field continued the outdoor season with a trip to the Silfen Invitational over the weekend, hosted by Connecticut College.
Eight members of the women’s team set new personal bests, including Megan Dunn and Gina Cappello in the 1500-meter run, Hannah Laderoute and Divinety Johnson in the hammer throw, Kaylie Groom in the 200-meter dash, and Olivia Coyne and JJ Conteh in the 100-meter dash. The headlining performance of the day came from Kelsie Dessaps, who broke the school long jump record with a 5.02 meter jump, finishing in third place in the event overall.
Five men’s runners set personal bests, anchored by Michael Nossek’s 10.82-second 100-meter dash time in the finals, plus Tighe Hosman’s 60-meter hurdles final time of 15.91 seconds. Marco Gomez and Eddie Hindle each set new bests in the 100 as well, with Gomez running to a 12.34-second time and Hindle at 11.85 seconds. Nico Carrillo wrapped up the day with a 200-meter dash time of 24.34 seconds.
