EAST BOSTON – Suffolk baseball led early and held off a Curry comeback to hand the Colonels an 8-5 game two Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader at East Boston Memorial Park. The win, the blue-and-gold's sixth straight, marked head coach Anthony Del Prete's 200th as Suffolk's skipper.

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 8 | Curry 5
RECORDS: Suffolk (21-13, 8-5 CCC) | Curry (5-27, 0-11 CCC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Suffolk put up runs in the first three innings to grab a 5-0 lead.

In the first, an error when Alex Sorenti-Burns put the ball in play let Harry Painter, who reached on a fielder's choice, come in, then Sorenti-Burns scored thanks to Max Iorio's double.

An inning later, three straight singles put the next two runs on the board. Cole Hilliard and Colin Flynn barreled back-to-back singles to the outfield before Garret Roberts singled to center to bring them both in.

The third frame saw Max Martin cross the plate. The junior catch slugged a double to right center and coasted in on Hilliard's single to left.

Curry got on the board in the top of the seventh. Nick Columbano reached on a fielder's choice moved into scoring position on base hit by Drew Fagala and scored thanks to Reegan Thomas' single to center field. That run trimmed the margin to four, 5-1.

The Rams regained the five-run advantage in the bottom of the seventh. Sorenti-Burns wore the first pitch he saw in the back to take first. The grad student was pushed over to second on a productive ground out from Iorio and crossed the plate when Max Martin singled through the left side. The distance grew even more when Flynn's single up the middle brought two runs in to turn it into an 8-1 cushion.

With Brett Bucklin in for Pierce Salbego, Erik Leonard sent a lead-off solo shot over the left field fence to get the eighth inning underway. The Colonels continued to claw back as they nearly batted around to trim the gap to three.

Suffolk was kept scoreless in the home half of the inning to keep it 8-5. Roberts came in to close out the gap and retired the side to clinch the victory.

PITCHERS PICTURE

• Salbego earned the win. He let up one run on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work.
• Bucklin allowed four runs, two earned, on five hits in 1.0 inning of reliever.
• Roberts put together 1.0 inning of scoreless, hitless relief.
• Dale Beneway took the loss after giving up five runs, three earned, on eight hits and two walks with two strikeouts in 2.2 innings of work.
• Micahel Hutchko shoved 3.2 innings out of the pen and compiled a three-run, three-hit, two-strikeout outing.
• Justin Schloss let up one hit and two walks with a pair of punchouts in 1.2 innings of relief.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Hilliard went 2-for-3 with one RBI, one run and one walk.
• Flynn brought in two runs on a 2-for-4 effort with one run scored himself.
• Sorenti-Burns scored twice and brought in one run.
• Roberts registered two RBI and one hit and one walk.
• Painter pitched in one hit, one run and one walk.
• Gilbride added two hits.
• Iorio logged one hit and one RBI.
• Armbruster added one hit and one run.

NOTEWORTHY

• Del Prete notched his 200th win on Suffolk's bench.
• The Rams moved to 33-6-1 all-time against Curry since 1968.
• Suffolk has strung together five wins in a row against the Colonels.
• Under Del Prete, the blue-and-gold is now 10-2 versus Curry.
• Hilliard had back-to-back multi-hit games. The junior tied a personal-best two hits.
• Flynn matched his personal-best two hits and two RBI.
• Roberts registered his first save of the season.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Suffolk continues its homestand tomorrow with a non-conference twinbill against Anna Maria. Prior to the 12:00 p.m. first pitch, the Rams will recognize their graduating players in a pre-game ceremony.