Spring is coming, and for Amherst’s Eric Howard, the new season won’t be quite the same.

For years, the routine was to climb out of the pool and on to the pitchers mound. Howard was a standout in both swimming and baseball at Souhegan High School.

Now at the College of Saint Rose, it’s all about the pool. Howard will find out what happens when he concentrates all his efforts on one sport.

The early results are encouraging for Howard, who still owns a school record or two at Souhegan, although those records are under assault by his younger brother Tyler, a Saber sophomore.

At the Northeast-10 Championship earlier this month, Howard, named Northeast-10 Rookie of the Week in late October, took second in the 200-yard backstroke in 1 minute, 54.23 seconds.

Howard swam a variety of events to help his nationally ranked team finish fourth in the conference. The same weekend he learned that Souhegan had captured a Division II title, after finishing second three times during Howard’s high school career.

“I was pretty excited,’’ Howard said. “Especially since my brother is on the team.’’

Swimming started for Howard as a 10-year-old at the Amherst Swim Club, and it wasn’t long before he was swimming year round at Hampshire Hills and the Manchester YMCA.

His progress as a swimmer was steady and he expected to swim in college, but a strong senior year in baseball brought up the possibility of playing that sport in college.

But a visit to Saint Rose put Howard back on the swimming path.

“I liked the coach and like the team right away,’’ Howard said. “They had the academic program I liked and they had the right financial package.’’

Howard, who originally planned to major in criminal justice, has switched to forensic psychology.

In the pool, the intensified college training is paying off. Howard has shed four seconds off his best time in the 200 backstroke, five seconds off his individual medley time and two seconds off his 100 backstroke time.

His goal in the next three years is to qualify for the NCAA Nationals.

KELSEY HOGAN

Her battered, braced right knee will be operated on the fourth time when the season is over, but UNH junior guard Kelsey Hogan is having one of the best stretches of her college career.

A week after shooting a perfect 6 for 6 from the floor in a 17-point effort against the University of Vermont, Hogan tied her career record, scoring 20 points in 29 minutes in a 59-50 victory over the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Hogan logged a team-high 37 minutes Saturday in a 59-45 loss to Boston University, finishing with eight points, five rebounds and four assists.

CONNOR ROOT

Sophomore pitcher Connor Root of Nashua pitched three shutout innings and earned his first victory in Bentley University’s 4-3, 16-inning victory over Rollins College on Saturday.

Root, the former Nashua North standout, retired the first two batters in the bottom of the 16th, before an error and stolen base put the tying run in scoring position. But Root ended it was a strikeout on a full count.

BILL FERRITER,

DAN FEEHAN

Senior leadoff hitter Bill Ferriter of Nashua had a pair of hits Sunday for the University of Connecticut baseball team in a 5-3 loss to Purdue in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Ferriter had four hits in the season-opening three game swing, including a 4-3, 15-inning victory over Indiana.

The winning pitcher was
Nashua’s Dan Feehan, who pitched 12?3 shutout innings to
end the game.

It was the season debut for Feehan, who like Ferriter played high school baseball at Nashua South.

MELISSA ROBBINS

Sophomore Melissa Robbins had a goal in each game over the weekend for the Sacred Heart women’s hockey team in two games against Franklin Pierce.

Robbins had a short-handed goal Saturday in a 3-2 victory and scored Friday in a 3-2 loss.

She’s tied for the team lead with 14 goals in 28 games and is second in total points with 28.

JAMIE ZAJAC

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute senior guard Jamie Zajac hit a pair of free throws with 3.7 second left to give the Engineers a 67-65 victory over Union on Friday.

Zajac finished with 18 points and five rebounds for 15-9 RPI, which went on to win its seventh straight game Saturday, beating Skidmore 73-66.

For the season, Zajac is second on the team in scoring at 11.8 points per game. He leads the team in assists (79) and free throw shooting percentage
(81 percent).

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