RINDGE, N.H.-A historic season came to a close on Saturday as The College of Saint Rose fell to No. 4/8 Southern New Hampshire, 5-4, in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship Final on the campus of Franklin Pierce University.
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The Golden Knights (21-20) reached the league finals for the first time in their 16-year NE-10 tenure despite being picked last (seventh) in the preseason divisional poll and starting 0-8 in non-conference play.
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Senior center fielder
Derek Reed, senior designated hitter
Nick Venier and junior shortstop
Tyler Ungerland, the top three hitters in the Saint Rose lineup, were once again the offensive leaders on Saturday. They went a combined 4-for-9 (.444) with four runs scored, three walks and an RBI.
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The trio got things going in the top of the first inning when Reed walked to lead off the game, Venier singled, and Ungerland delivered an RBI base hit. The Golden Knights then made it 2-0 on a groundout by  junior third baseman
Alex Chandler.
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Southern New Hampshire (45-5) responded in the home half of the fourth inning when it scored four runs on four hits and took advantage of a couple of Saint Rose errors and a wild pitch.
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The Golden Knights tacked on a run in the top of the fifth when Venier singled to third base and Reed scored on an errant throw by the SNHU first baseman.
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In the bottom of the fifth, sophomore right-hander
Dominic Razzano entered the game with runners on first and second and no outs. He eventually ended the inning on a strikeout with the bases loaded to keep the Golden Knights within one at 4-3. The local product allowed one unearned run in 3.0 innings of relief while striking out three.
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The Penmen made it 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth on a two-out single through the left side.
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Venier was hit by a pitch to lead off the top of the eighth inning and advanced to third following an Ungerland base hit. The Golden Knights were unable to collect another hit in the inning, but made it 5-4 on an RBI groundout by sophomore right fielder
Sean Maki.
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Next, junior right-hander
Carmine Vricciariello and junior righty
Joe Pokrentowski combined to shut down the Penmen in the home half of the eighth.
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Junior second basemen
Mike Flynn led off the top of the ninth inning with a single. Following a successful sacrifice bunt by sophomore pinch hitter
Alec Caprarella, the Golden Knights were unable to come up with the game-tying hit with a runner in scoring position.
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After the game, Venier and Reed were named to the NE-10 All-Championship Team.
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Saturday marked the final contest in the Black and Gold for seniors Venier, Reed, catcher
Patrick Griffin, and right-handers
Nick Cioffi,
John Hooker,
Ryan McGrath,
Coby Schwartz and
Phillip Zdanowski.
Notes: Ungerland finishes the season currently leading the NE-10 with a .412 batting average (61-for-148)…He is furthermore first with a .497 on-base percentage and stands fourth behind a .588 slugging percentage…Ungerland batted .444 with runners in scoring position and 17 of his 33 RBI came with two outs…Venier is fifth among the NE-10 top hitters with a .366 batting average (49-for-134) and is fifth in slugging at .582…A four starting center fielder, Reed hit at a .316 clip (54-for-172) …Also, Vricciariello allowed only three runs and fanned 28 throughout his last 15 appearances that covered 20.2 innings on the bump…Ungerland was named a first-team All-Conference pick while Venier and Pokrentowski were selected third-team honorees last week…The Golden Knights finished the season 21-12 after opening the year 0-8 and were 13-1 when leading after seven innings…The postseason appearance was the first since 2003 for the Golden Knights.
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