Blandini named Player of the Week

By rbrown
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Updated: February 24, 2020

MANSFIELD, Mass. – Senior Tom Blandini (Bow, N.H.) of the Southern New Hampshire University baseball team was chosen as the Northeast-10 Player of the Week, while redshirt-junior Alex Gomes (Peabody, Mass.) landed NE10 Pitcher of the Week honors, both for the period ending Feb. 24, the league office announced Monday afternoon.

The Penmen, ranked 23rd in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II Poll, went a perfect 5-0 last week on their trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C., outscoring their opponents, 72-15.

Blandini put together a scorching week, as he slashed .619/.667/1.000/1.667, going 13-for-21 at the plate with four extra-base hits, including two home runs, eight RBI and seven runs scored. Blandini recorded multiple hits in all five games, including a trio of three-hit performances. Blandini was 6-for-9 with three RBI and two runs scored in Friday’s doubleheader sweep of Felician University and Mercy College, and then went 5-for-8 with a home run, three RBI and four runs scored in a twin bill sweep of Dominican (N.Y.) College on Saturday. Blandini homered again Sunday, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, including the game-winner in the sixth, as the Penmen erased a five-run deficit to defeat the University of Bridgeport, 8-5.

In just his second career start, Gomes allowed one run on three hits, over eight strong innings, while striking out a career-high 12 batters and walking just two, as SNHU defeated Mercy, 10-1, Friday.

In eight games thus far, Blandini is 15-for-33 (.455) with a .526 on-base mark and a .697 slugging percentage, which is good for an OPS of 1.223. He has two home runs, nine RBI and eight runs scored to his credit. Blandini leads the NE10 in hits, home runs, total bases and at bats, while ranking second in RBI, fourth in runs scored, sixth in slugging, seventh in batting average and 11th in OBP.

In two starts this season, Gomes is 1-1 with a 3.29 ERA, striking out 16 and walking just two, over 13-and-two-thirds innings. He ranks second in the league in innings pitched and third in strikeouts.

Blandini, Gomes and the Penmen kick off a four-game set at the New York Institute of Technology on Saturday with a doubleheader that begins at noon.