Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - The Southern Connecticut State baseball team split a pair of neutral site games on Saturday, taking the first game of the day against Nyack by a score of 12-2, before a ninth inning rally in game two fell just short in a 9-8 loss to Chestnut Hill.

Game 1
Redshirt senior A.J. Turnier (Waterford, Conn.) was dominant on the mound for Southern in the opener. The righty carried a no hitter into the eighth inning, going 7+ innings overall, allowing two earned runs on just one hit, while striking out 11 and walking five.

The Owls scored early and often in game one, as Julian Sobin (Ansonia, Conn.) used a first inning fielder's choice with the bases loaded to plate Matt Burns (Cheshire, Conn.) with the first run of the game. With the next batter at the plate, Sobin stole second, as Ethan Joyce (Exeter, N.H.) raced home from third on the catcher's throw down to make it 2-0.

Southern used single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to make it 5-0 off a RBI double by senior Joe Been (Nashua, N.H.), a home run from sophomore McNeill Finnegan (Old Saybrook, Conn.) and another RBI knock by Breen.

The Owls tacked on two more in the sixth as junior Jake Lieberman (Commack, N.Y.) used his second of three hits on the day to drive in sophomore Greg Zullo (Branford, Conn.). Up next, Burns then laced a two-out triple to plate Lieberman with Southern's seventh run of the game.

The Owls surrendered a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth, after Turnier allowed a leadoff walk, followed by a single before being replaced on the mound by junior Austin Brochu (Winsted, Conn.), who allowed just one hit and no runs over two innings of work.

The Owls put the game out of reach with a five-run ninth inning. Sobin, Joe Uccello (Glastonbury, Conn.), Zullo and Burns each had a RBI in the inning, as SCSU took advantage of two Nyack errors. The Warriors dropped to 0-2 with the loss, while the Owls (2-3) picked up their second win in a row.

Game 2
In the team's second game of the day, junior Jordan Picini (Attleboro, Mass.) started on the mound for Southern, tossing the first 5.1 innings allowing five earned runs on eight hits. Senior Nick Baviello (Orange, Conn.) had three hits and scored twice, while Sobin and Zullo each had a pair of hits.

The Owls had the lead twice in the early stages of the game, going up 2-0 in the bottom of the first as Baviello used a RBI double to score Burns, who had led off with a walk. Two battters later, Sobin drove in Baviello with a RBI single.

After the Griffins tied it in the second, SCSU scored three times in the bottom of the inning, sparked by a walk and hit by pitch with one out. Burns then roped a triple over the head of the left fielder to score Zullo and Mike Giordano (Norwalk, Conn.), before Joyce used a RBI groundout to plate Burns, making it 5-2.

The Griffins grabbed a 6-5 lead in the sixth, capped off by a two run homer from leadoff hitter Brendan Looby off Jason Harper (Saugus, Mass.). The Owls managed to tie the game in the last of the seventh, collecting three hits to begin to the inning. After singles by Baviello and Breen, Sobin doubled to left field, scoring Baviello to tie the 6-6. However, that would be it for scoring in the inning as a strikeout, fielder's choice and popup ended the frame.

Chestnut Hill used a sac fly in the eighth and a passed ball and wild pitch to score two runs (one earned) in the ninth. The Owls built up a rally in their last at bat, as Sobin reached on an error leading off. Finnegan and Wichmann each walked to load the bases with no outs. Zullo then smacked a RBI single to make it 9-7, before Nilson Ibert (Bronx, N.Y.) pinch hit and picked up his first SCSU RBI with a sac fly to center field to make it 9-8. That would be all the scoring for Southern as Austin DiBonaventure finished off the save by getting a strikeout and ground ball back to the mound.

The loss dropped the Owls to 2-4 on the season, while Chestnut Hill improved to 2-1. 

Southern will return to action Sunday morning at 9 a.m. when they take on Felician in the final game of their South Carlina trip.