COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College baseball team won its first Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division game of the season after splitting a doubleheader with Assumption College at Doc Jacobs Field on Saturday. The Purple Knights lost the opener, 13-4, before winning, 11-5, in the second game as Saint Michael's moves to 5-14 overall and 1-7 in the league, while Assumption goes to 7-15 and 3-4.

Senior George Buteau (Burlington, Vt./Trinity-Pawling School) went 3-for-5 in game one for Saint Michael's. Classmate Nicky Elderton (Shelburne, Vt./Rice Memorial) and first-year Peter Bocchino (Saugus, Mass./The Governor's Academy) both went 2-for-4, with Elderton scoring twice while hitting a triple and a home run. Junior Matt Feeney (Portsmouth, N.H./Portsmouth) tripled and walked and first-year PJ Jasak (Palmer, Mass./Wilbraham & Monson Academy) doubled and scored a run. Senior Will Corkum (Ipswich, Mass./Ipswich) allowed five runs in 1.1 innings for the loss.

Junior Michael Panza (West Haven, Conn./Notre Dame) doubled three times and scored four runs for Assumption as part of his 4-for-6 showing and senior Billy Johnson (Auburn, Mass./Holy Name) went 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Senior Greg O'Donnell (Northbridge, Mass./Northbridge) and junior Colin Clancy (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) both homered, with O'Donnell also contributing four RBIs. Junior Anthony Perry (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) scattered eight hits, allowed three runs and struck out five batters in seven innings for the win.

Following Panza's leadoff double in the first, Corkum was able to grab two quick outs before O'Donnell belted a two-run homer over just over the left field fence to give Assumption the early 2-0 lead. Saint Michael's then left a runner at third in the home half of the inning after Feeney's two-out triple. The Greyhounds tacked on three runs on three hits the next inning thanks to Clancy's two-run homer and a one-out RBI single by junior Tom Paine (Upton, Mass./Nipmuc). The Purple Knights responded with a pair of two-out runs in the second on Elderton's solo blast and Jasak scoring on a Greyhound throwing error as the hosts cut the margin to 5-2.

Assumption pushed across three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to take an 11-2 lead while Saint Michael's was kept scoreless. Elderton then hit a one-out triple in the sixth and later scored on Bocchino's RBI single. The Greyhounds added a run in the seventh and eighth innings for a 13-3 lead before the Purple Knights scored their final run in the ninth when first-year Aiden Burton (Milford, Conn./Notre Dame) touched home on a groundout.

In the second game, Salk went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Buteau scored twice and joined senior Michael Dougherty (Albany, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy/Schenectady County CC) and sophomore Steven Auger (Hopkinton, N.H./Hopkinton) as part of two-hit performers, with Dougherty adding three RBIs and Auger stealing two bases. Elderton scored three runs, while Burton scored twice. Sophomore Peter Cross (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) earned the win after tossing five innings, yielding five runs - three earned - on six hits and four strikeouts. Junior John Mielke (Boxboro, Mass./Acton-Boxboro Regional), sophomore Alex Winkelmann (Gilford, N.H./Tilton School) and first-year Colin Brennan (Braintree, Mass./Boston College HS) combined to keep Assumption scoreless through the final four frames.

O'Donnell went 3-for-5 with two doubles, while Panza doubled in his two-hit performance. Johnson, sophomore Mike Coggeshall (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) and first-year Andrew Jaehnig (Quincy, Mass./Boston College HS) each had an RBI. First-year Kyle Chudoba (Oxford, Conn./Oxford) surrendered seven runs - three earned - on seven hits in 2.2 innings for the loss.

After Cross struck out the side to start the game, Saint Michael's responded with two runs on three hits in the bottom half of the inning on Buteau's RBI single and Elderton's RBI double. Assumption tied the game in the next half inning, but the hosts retook the lead thanks to Dougherty's two-run single to give the Purple Knights a 4-2 lead through two innings. Saint Michael's pulled out to a 9-3 margin after registering five runs over the next two innings aided by Salk's two-run single, Dougherty's RBI double and Auger's and Bocchino's RBI singles.

The Greyhounds trimmed the deficit to 9-5 in the fifth when Panza scored on a groundout and Jaehnig ripped an RBI single up the middle. Saint Michael's then scored twice while keeping Assumption scoreless through the remainder of the game. Salk laced an RBI single in the sixth and Burton chipped in an RBI single in the eighth for the final Purple Knight runs and an 11-5 advantage. Brennan worked out of a one-out jam with runners at second and third to close out the game in the ninth.

The Purple Knights conclude their five-game weekend with a 12 p.m. doubleheader at regionally-ranked Merrimack College tomorrow. The Warriors are fourth in the latest New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) Coaches Poll.