Baseball Falls Late to Stonehill 3-2; Faces Three Must-Win Games Sunday
RINDGE, NH – The Merrimack baseball team was six outs away
from advancing to the title game, but it suffered its first loss of
the Northeast-10 Tournament, falling late to Stonehill College 3-2
Saturday afternoon at a rainy Dr. Pappas Field at Franklin
Pierce.
Merrimack (21-18) will need to win three games on Sunday to
capture the Northeast-10 Tournament and a NCAA berth, beginning
with #2 Franklin Pierce at 9 a.m. If they beat the Ravens, the
Warriors will need to beat #4 Stonehill twice in the championship,
with a nine-inning game-one scheduled for 45 minutes after the 9
a.m. game, and a seven-inning game-two scheduled for 35 minutes
after if Stonehill loses.
"Guys are playing like winners," said head coach Joe Sarno. "I
am so proud of this team. It's not over yet. Winning three games is
a difficult task, but anything can happen."
The Warriors led 2-0 into the eighth, but the Skyhawks rallied,
scoring three times, as Angelo Bruno lined a double down the line
to plate two runners off relief pitcher Keith Johansen
(Tyngsborough, MA). After Bruno stole third, Shane Franz
lined a single on a full count to score Bruno with what proved to
be the game-winning run.
Merrimack wasted an excellent effort from freshman hurler
Mike
Laracy (Weymouth, MA) who shutout Stonehill through
seven innings, before allowing the first two runners on in the
eighth and giving way to Johansen, who took the loss, falling to
2-2 on the season.
The Warriors scored immediately, taking a first inning 1-0 lead
without hitting the ball out of the infield. Leadoff batter
Mark
O'Flynn (Ipswich, MA) beat on an infield hit and went
to second on a Matt Hogan (Andover,
MA) walk. After Brendan Pyburn
(Peabody, MA) moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt,
O'Flynn came in to score on an RBI ground out from Tim Curran (South
Weymouth, MA).
They made it 2-0 in the second as Ray Walker (Lowell,
MA) reached on an error, advanced to second on an
Ed
Medeiros (Seekonk, MA) sac bunt and scored on a
two-out single by PJ Farnham (Andover,
MA).
Through seven innings, Laracy had worked effectively in and out
of trouble all afternoon. In the second, he loaded the bases with
one out but escaped, turning a comebacker into a 1-2-3 double play.
In the third, the freshman lefty put runners on first and second
with nobody out, but he struck out the next two and got cleanup
hitter Bruno on a comebacker to retire the side. In the sixth, the
Skyhawks had runners on second and third with two down, and Laracy
got Michael White to fly out to Farnham on a 3-2 pitch.
Laracy struck out six in seven innings, allowing just five
hits.
Stonehill starter Eric Haughn allowed two runs in seven innings,
before giving way to Joe SantaBarbara, who got the win (1-0),
pitching a scoreless eighth. Brendan Shepard got the save with a
perfect ninth.
Making his first start of the tournament, Farnham was 2-for-3
with an RBI and a walk, while Curran had a pair of hits and an
RBI.
With a two-out single in the seventh, Pyburn became the third
player in program history to reach the 200-hit milestone.
Northeast-10 Tournament Scoreboard
Thursday, May 6
Game 1: #6 Merrimack 5, #1 So. Connecticut 2 -
Game 2: #2 Franklin Pierce 6, #5 Adelphi 5 (10) -
Game 3: #4 Stonehill 4, #3 New Haven 1 -
Friday, May 7
Game 4: #1 So. Connecticut 9, #5 Adelphi 8 - Adelphi
Eliminated
Game 5: #6 Merrimack 4, #3 New Haven 0 - New Haven
Eliminated
Game 6: #4 Stonehill 5, #2 Franklin Pierce
1 -
Saturday, May 8
Game 7: #6 Merrimack 2 vs. #4 Stonehill 3
Game 8: #1 So. Connecticut vs. #2 Franklin Pierce 8 p.m.
Sunday, May 9
Game 9: MERRIMACK vs. Winner of Game #8, 9
a.m.
Game 10: Winner of Game #9 vs. Winner of Game #7 (Championship
Best of Two) – 12:30 p.m.
Game 11: Rematch of Game 10 if Winner of Game #9 wins – 30
minutes after Game 10 – 7 innings
