SPRINGFIELD, Mass. There's an old saying that goes "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" and then there's the old baseball saying that goes "Let's play two", this weekend head coach Nick Callini was the postman and four baseball games were his rounds. Between the rain drops, hail pebbles, snowflakes and wind gusts that Mother Nature threw his way he was undeterred even as many Northeast schools cancelled their games the American International College baseball team played on.
However, on this day it was the number 10 nationally ranked Southern New Hampshire University Penmen who swept the series capturing game one 13-6 before taking the finale 16-5.
AIC falls to 6-20 on the year and have dropped eight straight while the Penmen improve to 21-3 on the year.
After SNHU plated a single run in the first inning of game one it was the Jackets who responded to take a 3-1 lead. Junior Chris Starcun (Easthampton, Mass.) doubled home freshman Brendan Carter (Merrimack, N.H.), who reached on an infield single to open the frame, classmate K.J. White (Wilbraham, Mass.) followed with a line-shot single to right center to score Starcun, and sophomore Reed Phillips (E. Longmeadow, Mass.) also sent a run-producing single to left to score White.
The Penmen scored a single run in the second before plating three in the third to regain the lead after a two-run single to right by Derek Bauer. Then in the fourth the visitors tacked on four more highlighted by a two-run double to left by Carson Helms for the 9-4 advantage.
So. New Hampshire continued to swing bats hotter than the outside temperature and added a pair of runs in the top of the fifth and seventh for the 13-3 margin. AIC didn't go away quitely, however, scoring three runs in the last half inning. Carter had an RBI groundout, senior Tyler Geffert (Hopedale, Mass.) laced an RBI double to right and then crossed home on a single to left by White for the final score.
Sophomore Jason Coscio (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) was dealt the loss falling to 0-2 on the year after allowing five runs on nine hits while walking a pair and striking out one.
Starcun was a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish while White and Bohl each added a pair of singles, but AIC was outhit 19-11 in the opener.
In the finale SNHU opened a sizeable gap in the first half inning grabbing four runs on just one hit as they took advantage of some free passes and an error, but AIC capitalized on a Penmen miscue in their half of the inning scoring an unearned tally on a Starcun groundout for the 4-1 score.
The Penmen got that score back in the top of the third before Geffert and White knocked in a run each in the bottom half of the third for the 5-3 score. SNHU then began to take advantage of some sloppy fielding by AIC scoring six runs over the next two innings, half of which were unearned to grab the commanding 11-3 lead.
The visitors added to that margin in the sixth plating three more runs on just one hit for the 14-3 advantage before Phillips blasted his first career long bacl down the right field line in the bottom half for the 14-4 advantage.
The Jackets again battled in the ninth as freshman Travis Seymour (Chicopee, Mass.) delivered with an RBI single, but that was all they would get as SNHU completed the sweep with the 16-5 victory.
Each team recorded 10 hits in the finale, but eight errors from AIC paved the way to victory for the Penmen.
Freshman JD Lehouiller (Chicopee, Mass.) was dealt the loss allowing four runs on just one hit over one plus inning of work to fall to 0-2 on the campaign.
Geffert was a perfect 3-for-3 in the night cap collecting four total hits on the day while driving in a pair and scoring a pair.
AIC closes out their six game home stand with a single contest against Merrimack on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
