Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 Myrtle Beach, S.C. - (2/23/2015) – Chestnut Hill College finished Saturday, February 21, with a 2-1 record thanks to some late-inning, heads-up baseball from senior shortstop Preston Koehler (Bath, Pa.) and freshman second baseman Alec Craig (Hammonton, N.J.). Their runs provided important insurance tallies in a 9-8 victory over Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) which eased the pain from an earlier loss to #22 Franklin Pierce University, 9-1. Unfortunately, the Griffins visit to the Northeast Challenge ended in defeat as they left for Georgia College following a deflating 12-0 loss to Stonehill College.

Franklin Pierce University (2-0) used four early runs to put the pressure on Chestnut Hill College (2-2), 4-0. The Griffins stress increased after the Ravens scored four more runs in the fifth inning, 8-0, and a ninth run in the seventh inning, 9-0. Their only redemption came on a ninth-inning ground-out from senior Allen Umbenhauer (Whitehall, Pa.), which scored freshman Anthony Condello (Pottstown, Pa.) after a lead-off, pinch-hit walk, an error on the Raven pitcher, and a ground-out to first base moved him to third base, 9-1. But despite the tally, a following single from freshman first baseman Matthew Owens (Cherry Hill, N.J.) and a walk to freshman right fielder Patrick Kelley (Pipersville, Pa.), were unable to do any more damage against the Raven relief.

SCSU posted a 2-0 lead after their first inning of the day's second competition. It was quickly erased after back-to-back, second-inning singles from sophomore centerfielder Brandon DiBona (Southampton, Pa.) and Craig, 2-2, but it was only the start of a highly-competitive contest. The Owls reestablished their lead with a three-run second inning, 5-2, only to have the Griffins steal the advantage with a run in the third inning, 5-3, and a three-run sixth inning, 6-5. DiBona laced another run-scoring single in that frame and junior left fielder Brendan Looby (Sewell, N.J.) gave the Griffins the lead with a two-run home run. The Owls tied the contest in the bottom of the seventh inning, 6-6, and the Griffins regained the edge with run with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly from junior first baseman Patrick Campion (Norristown, Pa.), 7-6. Thankfully, the Griffin lead advanced to 9-6 in the ninth inning with self-manufactured runs from Koehler and Craig providing the cushion for sophomore pitcher Austin DiBonaventure (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.) to record his first save (1) of the season.

Regrettably, the Griffins stay in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, ended with a demoralizing 12-0 loss to Stonehil College. The Skyhawks pitching staff held the Griffins to just six baserunners in a combined four-hit shutout. Junior designated hitter Robert Slagle III (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) recorded two of those hits while Koehler and Umbenhauer were responsible for the other two. Slagle nearly made it home during the Griffins half of the second inning, but after a his lead-off single, an error by the pitcher, and a stolen base, two fly outs and a heads-up play by the shortstop ended the threat and propelled the Skyhawks for the double-digit victory.

The baseball team aims to recover with a trip further south to Milledgeville, Georgia, where they will challenge the Bobcats of Georgia College in a 2:00 p.m. doubleheader.