Lendrum shines in SNHU loss

By rbrown
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Updated: February 24, 2023

When and Where: February 23, 2023 – Myrtle Beach, S.C. (Griffith Field)
Score: Felician University 9, Southern New Hampshire University 7
Records: SNHU 3-1, Felician 2-3

Junior Mike LaRocca (Vero Beach, Fla.) and sophomore Gabe Passey (Moses Lake, Wash.) each homered, but the No. 6/9 Southern New Hampshire University baseball team’s rally fell short, as it opened its Myrtle Beach trip with a 9-7 loss to Felician University on Thursday at Griffith Field.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS

LaRocca – 1-5, 3 RBI, R
Passey – 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 R
Junior Nick Schwartz (Massapequa, N.Y.) – 2-4, RBI, BB
Sophomore John Chacho (Seymour, Conn.) – 2-4, R
Junior Danniel Rivera (New Britain, Conn.) – 2-5, 2 R

KEY MOMENTS

After Felician scored a two-out run in the top of the first, Southern New Hampshire tied it in the bottom of the frame when junior Cristian Mercedes (Providence, R.I.) singled to left to score Rivera, who led off the inning with a double to left.
The Golden Falcons took a commanding 9-1 lead with an eight-run third, capitalizing on a pair of errors, five walks and two wild pitches.
SNHU grabbed three back in the home half, with Passey leading off with a single and Mercedes drawing a one-out walk before LaRocca belted a three-run shot to right to trim the deficit to 9-4.
The Penmen continued the comeback with three more in the fourth. A two-run Passey home run scored Chacho, who led off with a double to left-center, while Rivera followed with a double to left and later came home on a single from Schwartz to make it 9-7.
The Penmen had the go-ahead run up in the fifth and seventh, as well as the winning run at the plate in the ninth, but Felician would end it with a strikeout.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Mercedes was 1-for-4 with an RBI, run scored and a walk.
Junior Cam Caraher (Plymouth, Mass.) finished 1-for-5.
In his Penmen debut, sophomore Harry Vargas Segura (Bronx, N.Y.) was 0-for-2 and walked three times.
Graduate student Josh Roberge (Chelmsford, Mass.; 1-1) allowed six runs – four earned – on four hits, while striking out three and walking four in two-plus innings.
Junior Griffin Gilbert (Concord, N.H.) came on in relief, giving up three runs – all unearned – on one hit, striking out a pair and walking two in an inning of work.
Freshman Frankie DeMaro (Newburgh, N.Y.) fired two perfect frames, striking out three batters.
Freshman Parker Lendrum (Exeter, N.H.) followed with two-and-a-third scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, while punching out a pair.
Sophomore Frankie Sanchez (Kendall Park, N.J.) gave up a hit and struck out two in a shutout inning-and-two-thirds.

NOTES

Southern New Hampshire, ranked sixth in the Collegiate Baseball Pre-Season NCAA Division II Poll and ninth in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) NCAA Division II Top 25, is 3-0 to begin the season for the second time in three years.
SNHU dips to 22-5 all-time against Felician, which has won three of the last five meetings between the two teams. Despite that, the Penmen have captured 15 of the last 18.
In 19-and-a-third innings this season the Penmen bullpen has pitched to a 0.47 ERA, relinquishing just four runs – one earned – on nine hits, while striking out 26 and walking three.

UP NEXT

The Penmen are back in action Friday (Feb. 24) at 4 p.m. when they take on Queens (N.Y.) College at Crosley Field in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

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