Baseball Eliminated by #25/26 Franklin Pierce, 5-2
RINDGE, NH – The Merrimack baseball team saw its magical
playoff run come to an end, losing to #25/26 Franklin Pierce 5-2
Sunday morning at Dr. Pappas Field on the final day of the
Northeast-10 Tournament.
With the victory, the Ravens (36-13) advance to the Northeast-10
Championship and will take on Stonehill in the finals. Merrimack
finishes its season 21-19 and takes third place in the postseason
tournament.
"I couldn't be happier for our team and the program," said head
coach Joe Sarno. "These guys overcame a lot of adversity this year
and proved many doubters wrong. We've proved to the public that we
can compete in this conference. I wish the seniors the best
following graduation. They've done a lot for this program."
The Ravens struck early, scoring twice in the second on an RBI
double from Nick LaCroix and on a sacrifice fly from Eric Pearson
and made it 3-0 on an RBI single from Derek Ingui in the third.
But the Warriors responded, putting two up in the fourth as
Mike
Dooling (Milford, CT) doubled home Tim Curran (South
Weymouth, MA), and Ed Medeiros (Seekonk,
NH) followed with a two-out double to plate Dooling.
In his final collegiate appearance, Merrimack starter
Ryan McNeil (Lynnfield, MA) gave everything he
had, pitching into the eighth inning, while striking out four and
allowing five runs. After allowing a two-out RBI single to Pearson
in the fourth, McNeil shut the Ravens down until Cody Kauffman
delivered a two-out RBI single in the seventh to push the lead back
to three.
Unfortunately for Merrimack, Ravens pitchers Mike Adams and
Heath Wasylow shut down the Warrior offense, combining to strike
out five while scattering just three hits in the game. Adams (6-1),
the Northeast-10 Pitcher of the Year in 2008, picked up the win
with 5 2/3 innings on the hill, and Wasylow followed with the save
in 3 1/3 innings, retiring the final nine Warriors in order.
Picked to finish 13th in the Northeast-10 Preseason
Poll, the Warriors proved the skeptics wrong, qualifying for the
playoffs on the final day of the regular season and upsetting
Southern Connecticut and New Haven in the conference tournament,
while coming just six outs away from advancing to the championship
game. Merrimack won its first postseason game since 2000 and
qualified for the playoffs for the first time in the seven-year
coaching tenure of Joe Sarno.
Sunday's game, originally scheduled for 9 a.m., was delayed
until 11:15 a.m. due to a scheduling conflict with the umpire
assigning organization. As a result, the championship was reduced
to a winner-take-all final due to time constraints.
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 4 vs. #2 Franklin Pierce 8 Southern
Connecticut Eliminated
Sunday, May 9
Game 9: MERRIMACK 2 vs. #2 Franklin Pierce 5,
11 a.m. Merrimack Eliminated
Game 10: #2 Franklin Pierce vs. #4 Stonehill (Championship)
– 45 minutes after Game 9
