Baseball Earns First Sweep, Powers Past Pace
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack baseball team captured its first Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader sweep of the season with two wins over Pace Saturday afternoon at Warrior Diamond on Senior Day. The Warriors picked up wins of 5-4 and 5-1 to improve to 13-22 on the year and 5-15 in the league. The Setters fall to 14-25-1 overall with a 6-16 mark in the conference.
Prior to the start of Saturday's doubleheader, the Merrimack baseball program recognized its three seniors: Mike Dooling (Milford, Conn.), Keith Johansen (Tyngsborough, Mass.) and Paul Manganiello (Levittown, N.Y.).
Mark O'Flynn (Ipswich, Mass.) led Merrimack offensively with a 3-for-6 effort from the plate with three RBIs. Beau Batchelor (Peabody, Mass.) finished with two base knocks on the day with three runs scored while Joe Mantoni (Hopedale, Mass.) also hit safely twice in the twin bill with three runs batted in.
Merrimack got on the board in the bottom of the second inning, scoring three runs. Batchelor raked a one-out single before Manganiello and Joe Santos (Ashland, Mass.) reached base by fielding errors. Eddie Newton (North Billerica, Mass.) drove in the first run of the game with a groundout to allow Batchelor to score. O'Flynn smacked a two-out single to center to plate a pair, giving the home team a 3-0 lead.
James Pjura homered down the right field line to lead off the sixth, cutting Pace's deficit to 3-1.
Batchelor got on board in the bottom of the sixth with two outs and advanced to second as Manganiello drew a walk. Santos laced a single past the diving third baseman and down the left field line to drive in Batchelor from second, restoring the Warriors three-run lead, 4-1.
O'Flynn led off the seventh with a base on balls and moved to third on two wild pitches. Tim Curran (South Weymouth, Mass.) plated O'Flynn with an RBI single to left to push the score to 5-1 in favor of the home side.
The Setters notched three runs in the top of the eighth to pull within a run, 5-4. Joe Lombardi scored on a wild pitch after earning a leadoff walk. Pjura came home on a throwing error to shrink the Warriors' advantage to two runs, 5-3. Brandon Martineson cracked a pinch hit single to right center to drive in a run to tighten the gap.
Johansen tossed six innings to claim his second victory of the season on the mound. Johansen struck out six batters while allowing one run. Brian Wolfendale (Methuen, Mass.) worked two innings while surrendering three hits and one earned run. Brett Julian (Weymouth, Mass.) shut the door with a dominant three-out save. Julian fanned the first two batters he faced and got the third to ground out to end the game.
Julian landed Merrimack's first hit of game two on the afternoon, cracking a one-out single in the first inning. After stealing second, Julian advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt. Following a walk issued to Dooling, Mantoni legged out a triple to drive in the first two runs of the game to put the Warriors ahead 2-0. Mantoni scored the third run of the frame as Batchelor swiped second after drawing a walk.
Tyler Collins plated Pace's lone run of game two in the top of the third with an RBI double to left field, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
Merrimack added a run in the home half of the third to raise the score to 4-1. Dooling led off the frame with a single and advanced to second when the centerfielder misplayed the ball. After taking third on a wild pitch, Dooling trotted home on an RBI double to left center by Mantoni.
Batchelor opened the eighth with a single through the right side of the infield. Manganiello followed with a walk and Brandon Cox laced a single to load the bases. With one out in the inning, O'Flynn dropped a single into shallow right field to drive in Batchelor from third to extend the home team's lead to 5-1.
Mantoni also hurled six innings on the hill for the Warriors in game two. The sophomore struck out eight batters while allowing one run on five hits. Chris Pinette (Norwood, Mass.) pitched the seventh and eighth innings, fanning one and preventing the visitors from scoring. Julian closed the second game of the day, retiring three-straight batters after allowing the leadoff hitter to reach.
Merrimack travels to Southern N.H. May 1 for a pair of contests. The Warriors return home May 4 to host Franklin Pierce.
