COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College baseball team resumed its season-ending six-game homestand with two losses, 7-5 and 9-1, to regionally-ranked Stonehill College in Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division action at Doc Jacobs Field on Saturday. The Purple Knights slip to 10-26 overall and 4-18 in the league, while the Skyhawks, who are third in this week's NCAA East Region poll, improve to 25-10-1 and 13-6.

Senior George Buteau (Burlington, Vt./Trinity-Pawling School) homered and had four RBIs in game one for Saint Michael's. Junior Matt Feeney (Portsmouth, N.H./Portsmouth) doubled and walked and sophomore Drew Salk (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) doubled and scored twice while being hit by a pitch twice. Senior Nicky Elderton (Shelburne, Vt./Rice Memorial) provided one hit and one RBI, and first-year Peter Bocchino (Saugus, Mass./The Governor's Academy) was also hit by two pitches. Sophomore Dylan Lavery (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) allowed seven runs on nine hits with three strikeouts in 5.1 innings for the loss, while senior Will Corkum (Ipswich, Mass./Ipswich) threw a scoreless 3.2 relief innings, yielding just three hits while fanning two batters.

Senior Eric Schneider (Camarillo, Calif./Saint Bonaventure) went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, one double and one run scored for Stonehill, while junior Brian Campbell (Franklin, Mass./Mount Saint Charles Academy) was 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored as part of the Skyhawks' 12-hit attack. Senior Dan Fratus (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) went 2-for-3 with two walks, two runs, and one RBI, while sophomores Eddie Bowler (Hingham, Mass./Hingham) and Steve Lee (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) both had two hits, with Bowler contributing two RBIs. Senior Armand Rugel (Middletown, R.I./Middletown) tossed 4.1 relief innings of scoreless, one-hit ball for the victory and sophomore Aubrey Solomon (Groton, Mass./Lawrence Academy) struck out the only two batters he faced for the save.

Bowler's two-out RBI single in the second inning gave Stonehill the game's first lead. The Skyhawks then pushed across three runs in the third for a 4-0 lead thanks to a bases-loaded walk, followed by Schneider's two-run single. The hosts responded the next half inning when Buteau provided a sacrifice fly to score senior Michael Dougherty (Albany, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy/Schenectady County CC). Elderton followed with an RBI single to score Salk, bringing the Purple Knights to a 4-2 deficit. Saint Michael's kept its offense going into the fourth when Buteau belted a two-out, three-run homer to left field as the Purple and Gold now led, 5-4.

The Skyhawks scored twice in the fifth and once in the sixth to cement a 7-5 lead for good, with Bowler's RBI single plating the go-ahead run. With Saint Michael's trailing, 7-5, in the sixth, Corkum entered with the bases loaded with one out and struck out the next two batters to prevent any more Skyhawk damage. Rugel came on in the bottom of the sixth and retired 13 of 16 batters faced before Solomon struck out two batters representing the potential tying run to end the game.

In game two, Feeney went 2-for-4, while first-year Aiden Burton (Milford, Conn./Notre Dame) was 2-for-3. Elderton drew two walks and Buteau provided one hit and one run scored. Junior John Mielke (Boxboro, Mass./Acton-Boxboro Regional) was tagged with the loss after allowing six runs - two earned - on eight hits in 2.2 innings. First-years Colin Brennan (Braintree, Mass./Boston College HS) and Steve Knable (Manalapan, N.J./Saint John Vianney) combined to allow three runs - no earned - on five hits with four strikeouts over the remaining 6.1 frames.

Junior Chris Hoyt (Walpole, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) paced Stonehill's 13-hit barrage by going 3-for-5 with three RBIs and a stolen base. Lee doubled, scored a run and stole a base as part of his 2-for-3 showing, while Schneider was 2-for-6 with three runs scored. Bowler and first-year Alex Hurley (Rumford, R.I./Worcester Academy) both had two RBIs and a walk. First-year Michael Young (Mashpee, Mass./Pope John Paul II) surrendered only two hits, while striking out four in six scoreless innings for the win.

Stonehill plated four runs with two outs in the opening inning after a Saint Michael's fielding error allowed two runs to score, followed by Bowler's two-run single. The Skyhawks scored twice in the third and three times in the fourth to build a 9-0 lead that they would carry until Saint Michael's put up a run in the seventh. After Buteau, Elderton and Feeney all reached base to start the home half, the Purple Knights grabbed a run on a double-play groundout, bringing the score to 9-1. Saint Michael's then stranded a runner at third in the ninth to end the game.

Saint Michael's closes its season tomorrow with a 12 p.m. doubleheader on Senior Day against Stonehill.