Photo credit: Emma Daniels

When and Where: May 27, 2021 – Rindge, N.H. (Pappas Field)
Score: Southern New Hampshire University 5, Dominican (N.Y.) College 1
Records: SNHU 25-6, DC 19-14

Redshirt-junior Jeffrey Praml (Bridgewater, N.J.) struck out a career-high 14 and allowed just four hits, while graduate student Marcus Chavez (Queens, N.Y.) homered and drove in three runs, to lead the 14th-ranked and top-seeded Southern New Hampshire University baseball team to a 5-1 victory against sixth-seeded Dominican (N.Y.) College on Thursday evening on the first day of the NCAA East Regional Championship at Franklin Pierce University's Pappas Field.

LINKS: BOX SCORE | NCAA EAST REGIONAL CENTRAL

STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Praml (6-2) – 9.0 innings, 1 run, 1 earned run, 4 hits, career-high 14 strikeouts, 0 walks
• Chavez – 2-3, home run, walk, 3 RBI, 2 runs
• Redshirt-freshman Michael LaRocca (Vero Beach, Fla.) – 1-3, home run, RBI, run

KEY MOMENTS

• Southern New Hampshire snapped the scoreless deadlock in the third. Redshirt-freshman Christian Mercedes (Providence, R.I.) collected the first hit for either side and then scored on a two-out, two-run single from Chavez. Redshirt-junior Dakota Mulcay (Goffstown, N.H.) followed with an RBI double and the Penmen led, 3-0.
• Chavez struck again with a solo shot the other way to right in the fifth.
• Praml lost his no-hitter with two outs in the sixth on a home run from Max Chidsey that trimmed the Dominican deficit to 4-1.
• The Penmen quickly gained the run back in the home half when LaRocca crushed one to right that caromed off the light pole and back on to the field, making it 5-1.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Grad student Joshua Goldstein (Haverhill, Mass.) went 1-for-3 with a run and two stolen bases.
• Mulcay (double, RBI), Mercedes (run, steal), redshirt-junior Idelson Taveras (Lawrence, Mass.) and redshirt-sophomore Alex Kennedy (Braintree, Mass.) were all 1-for-4.
• Praml retired nine straight prior to giving up the home run.

NOTES

• Southern New Hampshire, ranked 14th in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II Poll, improves to 28-18 (.609) in its ninth NCAA postseason appearance, including 1-0 against Dominican.
• The Penmen will now take on fourth-seeded Franklin Pierce on Friday (May 28) at 3 p.m., while the Chargers will meet second-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas College in an elimination game Friday at 11 a.m.
• SNHU now leads the all-time series with Dominican, 6-0.
• Chavez' homer was his fifth of the season and the seventh of his career.
• LaRocca went deep for the fourth time in sixth contests and now has six on the season and in his career.
• Goldstein's two stolen bases give him 48 for his career and move him into a fifth-place tie in the program's all-time record book.
• Redshirt-junior Sam Henrie (Middleboro, Mass.) and redshirt-freshman Danniel Rivera (New Britain, Conn.) both had their seven-game hitting streaks snapped.

UP NEXT

• Top-seeded Southern New Hampshire will look to eliminate fourth-seeded Franklin Pierce on Friday (May 28) at 3 p.m.

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NCAA Division II East Regional Championship

Thursday, May 27 
Game 1: (5) Goldey-Beacom 3, (2) St. Thomas Aquinas 0
Game 2: (3) Molloy 13, (4) Franklin Pierce 5 
Game 3: (1) Southern New Hampshire 5, (6) Dominican (N.Y.) 1 

Friday, May 28 
Game 4: (6) Dominican (N.Y.) vs. (2) St. Thomas Aquinas - 11 a.m. (loser eliminated) 
Game 5: (1) Southern New Hampshire vs. (4) Franklin Pierce - 3 p.m. (Game 2 Loser eliminated with loss) 
Game 6: (5) Goldey-Beacom vs. (3) Molloy - 7 p.m. 

If four teams remain after Game 6, the following schedule will be used: 

Saturday, May 29 
Game 7: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner - 11 a.m. 
Game 8: Game 6 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner - 3 p.m. (loser eliminated) 
Game 9: Game 7 Loser vs. Game 8 Winner - 7 p.m. (loser eliminated) 

Sunday, May 30 
Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner - Noon 
Game 11: Game 10 rematch* - 40 minutes after conclusion of Game 10 
* Game 11 only necessary if Game 9 Winner wins Game 10. 

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If five teams remain after Game 6, the following schedule will be used: 

Saturday, May 29 
Game 7: Game 5 Loser vs. Game 6 Loser - 11 a.m. (loser eliminated) 
Game 8: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner - 3 p.m. (loser eliminated) 
Game 9: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner - 7 p.m. (Game 7 Winner eliminated with loss) 

If two teams remain after Game 9, the following schedule will be used: 

Sunday, May 30 
Game 10: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner - Noon 
Game 11: Game 10 rematch* - 40 minutes after conclusion of Game 10 
* Game 11 only necessary if Game 8 Winner wins Game 10. 

If three teams remain after Game 9, the following schedule will be used: 

Sunday, May 30 
Game 10: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 9 Loser - Noon (loser eliminated) 
Game 11: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner - 3:30 p.m.