The Stonehill College baseball team lost its series finale to Northeast Conference rival Long Island University, 7-3, on May 10. The Skyhawks now have a record of 19-26 overall and 15-12 in conference play, while the Sharks improved to 25-18 overall and 24-6 in league action.
This game was notable for several individual achievements. Senior Michael Rickert recorded his team-leading 13th multi-RBI game of the season, bringing his season total to 51 runs batted in. This is the third-most RBIs by a Skyhawk during Stonehill College’s NCAA Division I era in a single season. Graduate student Sam Parks and junior John Bureau extended their hitting streaks to five and eleven games, respectively. Junior Ryan LeClair was hit by two pitches during the game, increasing his single-season program record at the NCAA Division I level to twenty-six hit-by-pitches—a mark that ranks second in the Northeast Conference and fourth nationally. Junior Nathan Kearney and LeClair also extended their on-base streaks to thirty-seven and forty consecutive games.
Graduate student Ryan Douglas started on the mound for Stonehill, allowing three runs over five innings with two strikeouts. Sophomore Alex Cook contributed with a scoreless inning of relief that included one strikeout, marking his eleventh scoreless appearance this season.
The game’s scoring began when Bureau was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the first inning, giving Stonehill an early lead. Long Island University responded with an RBI double from Ryan Rivera in the third inning to tie it at one run each. The Sharks took control with two more runs in the fourth inning: Mike Polubinski led off with a solo home run before a delayed steal of home made it 3-1 heading into the fifth.
In their half of the fifth inning, Parks singled into shallow center field before advancing after LeClair was hit by another pitch. Rickert then doubled off the wall in right-center field, driving home both Parks and LeClair to tie up the game at three runs apiece. However, Stonehill could not keep pace offensively as Long Island University pulled away for a final score of 7-3.
Stonehill will return to action on Tuesday for a midweek matchup against Bryant University scheduled for 3 p.m.
