Baseball Suffers Sunday Sweep Against New Haven
NORTH ANDOVER, MA – Dropping to .500 (13-13) on the
season, the Merrimack College baseball team dropped a pair of
Conference contests to the University of New Haven (24-9, 12-6
NE-10) Sunday afternoon on Warrior Diamond, 6-3 and 5-4.
In game one, the Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second
inning on a two-run single down the left field line from sophomore
catcher Ray Walker (Lowell, MA) to score
Tim Curran (South Weymouth, MA) and Mike Dooling (Milford, CT). Walker accounted for the
third and final Merrimack run with a sacrifice fly to center field
in eighth inning.
The lead would not last long in the fourth as the Chargers
scored three runs in both the fourth and sixth innings.
Senior captain Ryan O'Rourke (Worcester, MA)
got the start for Merrimack and improved his scoreless streak to
24.0 innings before being touched up for five earned runs.
The lefty went 5.1 innings and struck out five before being
replaced by classmate and fellow captain Ryan McNeill
(Lynnfield, MA) who went 3.2 innings without allowing a
run and striking out four.
Two of four Merrimack errors took place in the fourth inning,
giving way to a three-run fourth inning for New Haven and enough
insurance for Chris Smith to improve to 5-2 on the year in 7.0
innings pitched.
In the nightcap, senior Dylan Ellis (Gloucester,
MA) got the nod and went a complete game, striking out 12,
but four earned runs in addition to an unearned run following two
Warrior errors in the fifth was enough for the visiting
Chargers.
The Chargers got on the board first with a 2-0 lead on three
hits to start. New Haven piled on three more runs in the top
of the fifth following after the pair of Warrior errors.
For the Warriors, pinch hitter Joe Mantoni (Hopedale,
MA) knocked a pair of hits on the afternoon, including his
first double of the season to jump-start a four-run fifth inning
for Merrimack. After Mantoni scored on a wild pitch, senior
captain Brendan Pyburn (Peabody, MA) scored
freshman Mark O'Flynn (Ipswich, MA) who
singled earlier in the inning. Later in the inning, Curran
would double to right center to score Pyburn and freshman
Brett Julian (Weymouth, MA).
The Warriors are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to
Bentley University for a Conference clash in Waltham at
3:30pm. The Warriors and Falcons will battle two more times
in the week on Thursday and Friday. Thursday will be a
Conference match at Merrimack while Friday is a non-Conference
game.
