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Morales, Penmen advance

BOX SCORE | RAPID REACTION WITH REDSHIRT-JUNIOR ENDY MORALES

When and Where: May 17, 2019 – Hooksett, N.H. (Penmen Field)
Score: Southern New Hampshire University 8, Felician University 0
Records: SNHU 38-13, Felician 31-23

Redshirt-junior Endy Morales (Holyoke, Mass.) fired a one-hit, complete-game shutout to lead the 17th-ranked and second-seeded Southern New Hampshire University baseball team to an 8-0 victory against sixth-seeded Felician University on Friday in the NCAA East II Regional loser’s bracket semifinal at Penmen Field, propelling SNHU into Saturday’s (2 p.m.) final against third-seeded Long Island University-LIU Post.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS

  • Morales (7-2) was stellar through nine scoreless innings, striking out four, walking two and hitting a pair of batters, while relinquishing just the single hit.
  • Redshirt-senior Kevin Alexy (Newton, Mass.) went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI and a run scored.
  • Freshman Alex Kennedy (Braintree, Mass.) and sophomore Idelson Taveras (Lawrence, Mass.) were both 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
  • Junior Tom Blandini (Bow, N.H.) was 1-for-4 with a walk, RBI and two runs scored.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Southern New Hampshire struck first in the top of the first when Blandini drew a leadoff walk, stole second, moved to third when the catcher’s throw to first on a dropped third strike sailed down the right field line, and scored on an RBI groundout to third by sophomore Dakota Mulcay (Goffstown, N.H.).
  • The Penmen broke it open with a seven-run sixth inning in which they sent 10 batters to the plate and took advantage of an error and five Felician passed balls. Kennedy knocked in the first run with an RBI single through the right side, before Alexy placed a two-run single toward the line in right that made it 4-0. Alexy came home on a passed ball, with Taveras driving in the sixth run with a single to center. Blandini then tripled to right-center to score Taveras and then came home himself when the relay throw to third was errant, running the score to 8-0.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

  • Sophomore Sam Henrie (Middleboro, Mass.) and redshirt-junior Joshua Goldstein (Haverhill, Mass.), who had a superb night, defensively, at second base, were both 1-for-4.
  • Mulcay was 0-for-4, but walked, collected an RBI and drove in a run.

NOTES

  • Southern New Hampshire, which played as the visiting team, has won 10 of its last 13.
  • SNHU improves to 25-16 (.610) all-time in its eighth NCAA Championship appearance, including 4-0 against Felician.
  • In those four NCAA postseason victories against Felician, Southern New Hampshire is outscoring the Golden Falcons, 35-10.
  • The Penmen better their record to 18-5 at home this season and are now 93-22 (.809) at Penmen Field since the start of the 2014 season.
  • Morales worked four 1-2-3 innings and at one point retired 12-in-a-row.
  • Morales’ performance brought back memories of last year’s NCAA East Regional final, when Shane McDonald tossed a one-hit, complete-game shutout to defeat St. Thomas Aquinas College and send the Penmen to the College World Series.
  • Kennedy is now 6-for-9 with a home run, three RBI and three runs scored in three NCAA Championship contests this week.

UP NEXT

  • The Penmen will try and beat LIU Post two times Saturday (2 p.m.) to advance to the Super Regional, while the Pioneers need just one win to do so themselves.

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