Baseball Downs #13/21 SCSU 5-2 in Opening Game of NE-10 Tournament

5/6/2010 12:00:00 AM

Merrimack Playoff Central / NE-10 Baseball Tournament Schedule

RINDGE, NH – A two-run homer from Ray Walker (Lowell, MA) and a complete-game, 11 strikeout performance from Ryan O'Rourke (Worcester, MA) gave the Merrimack baseball team the 5-2 victory over #13/21 Southern Connecticut in game one of the Northeast-10 Tournament Thursday afternoon at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field.

With the win, Merrimack (20-17), ranked sixth in the conference tournament, will face #3 New Haven Friday at 3:30 p.m. New Haven lost to #4 Stonehill 4-1 Thursday night. Top seed Southern Connecticut (34-10-1) will face #5 Adelphi at noon on Friday in an elimination game.

With Tim Curran (South Weymouth, MA) on second after beating out a pick-off throw with two outs in the seventh, Walker ended a nine-pitch sequence, lining his third homer of the season to left off of Owl hurler Chris Zbin.

“It's a great win for the program, the first playoff win in 10 years,” said head coach Joe Sarno. “We've been learning how to win with O'Rourke on the mound, and our guys came in here with confidence that they can no matter who they play.”

The Warriors added two more in the eighth as Paul Manganiello (Levittown, NY) beat out an infield hit, advanced to second and third on wild pitches and scored on a two-out bloop single from Matt Hogan (Andover, MA). After Brendan Pyburn (Peabody, MA) moved Hogan to third on a single and a fielding error, Hogan raced home on a throwing error by the SCSU catcher.

Throwing his third complete game of the season and second in as many starts, O'Rourke did not allow a base runner past second until the eighth and did not allow a hit from the fourth until the eighth when Nick DeProspo lined a two-out RBI double to left-center to ruin the shutout. DeProspo also came around to score on the same sequence after a fielding error, cutting the lead to 4-2. But O'Rourke recovered, getting Ryan Geffert to ground out to short to end the inning.

Merrimack tacked on an insurance run in the ninth, as Brett Julian (Weymouth, MA) lined a two-out double to right-center to plate Walker with their fifth run of the game.

O'Rourke retired the side in order in the ninth, getting Eric Schlitter to ground out to short to end the game.

Zbin (7-2) and O'Rourke (5-2), both first-team all-conference selections, were locked in a classic pitching duel, combining for 19 strikeouts while allowing just six hits through seven innings before the Warriors broke through.

Zbin surrendered three runs and seven hits while fanning nine in 7.2 innings.

O'Rourke also became the program's all-time strikeout leader, setting the school mark with his 2^nd strikeout of the game, his 184^th of his career. Through today's game, he has 193 strikeouts in his career, 93 this season in 79 innings.

Eight Warriors had at least a hit, with Walker leading the way with two hits and two runs.

Earning their first playoff win since 2000, the Warriors were playing in their first playoff game in the seven-year coaching career of Joe Sarno and picked up their 20^th career tournament victory. Merrimack improved to 2-1 against the Owls this season, who have lost just six conference games all season.

Whether Merrimack wins or loses on Friday, they will play at noon on Saturday and possibly 7 p.m. that night. Log on to merrimackathletics.com for the updated Northeast-10 bracket as the tournament progresses.