COLCHESTER, Vt. -- Junior catcher Tyler Fortanascio went 5-5 at the plate with three runs scored and two RBI as No. 10 Southern New Hampshire jumped out to an 8-0 lead after four innings as it downed Saint Michael's 13-2 in Northeast-10 baseball on Wednesday afternoon. The Penmen upped their record to 30-10 and 17-5 in the NE-10, while the Purple Knights are 3-22 and 2-16 in the league.
SNHU becomes the first team in the East Region to reach the 30-win mark, and the Penmen have now reached the 30-win mark in each of the past three seasons.
Fortanascio, in just his third game back after missing 11 games in a row, led a Penmen offense that pounded out 18 hits and saw all but one member of the starting lineup record at least one hit. Brendan O'Brien and Al Stanton each finished with three hits, with Stanton knocking in a pair of runs and O'Brien stealing four bases to up his total to 41 on the season without getting caught. Manny Cruz and Alejandro Diaz had two hits apiece, while Riley Palmer and Bryan Toland each knocked in a pair of runs.
Alex Person tossed the first four innings for SNHU and allowed a pair of hits while fanning five. Joe McCarthy was awarded the win after his two scoreless innings of relief, while Lucas Olen allowed one hit in his two innings of work. Kyle Thomas worked the ninth and recorded a strikeout while surrendering the lone Purple Knight runs on the day.
Alec Tice and George Buteau each had a pair of hits to lead Saint Michael's.
SNHU scored two runs apiece in each of the first four innings and upped its lead to 12-0 with four runs in the sixth. The final Penmen run came in the eighth, before the hosts scored twice in the bottom of the ninth.
