Baseball Falls to #15/23 Franklin Pierce in Final Home Game
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – In the final home contest of the 2011 season, the Merrimack baseball team suffered a 12-1 loss to #15/23 Franklin Pierce Friday afternoon. The Warriors dip to 13-27 overall and 5-18 in the Northeast-10 Conference. The Ravens improve to 34-10 on the year and 18-6 in the league.
Brett Julian (Weymouth, Mass.) registered two of Merrimack's four hits on the afternoon. Mark O'Flynn (Ipswich, Mass.) and Tim Curran (South Weymouth, Mass.) each picked up a base knock in the game.
Franklin Pierce opened the scoring in the second inning. Derek Ingui singled through the left side to lead off the frame. Zach Mathieu blasted a two-run homer to centerfield to give the visitors a 2-0 advantage. Ross Lincoln singled up the middle to drive in a run as the Ravens owned a 3-0 lead.
The Warriors got on the board in the third inning. Eddie Newton (North Billerica, Mass.), O'Flynn and Julian all reached base to load the bags. Curran laced a single into left to plate Newton from third to cut the deficit to 3-1.
Nick LaCroix led off the top of the fourth with a home run down the left field line to restore Franklin Pierce's three-run edge. Dan Henning drove in Isaac Wenrich from second with a single to left to give the Ravens a 5-1 cushion.
LaCroix drove in his second run of the game in the top of the seventh with a single to plate Ingui. Mathieu increased the visiting team's advantage to six as he came home when Lincoln stole second base, extending the lead to 7-1.
Hennigan trotted home in the eighth on a throwing error to push the Ravens' edge to 8-1. A pair of two-RBI hits by Franklin Pierce in the ninth closed out the scoring.
Chris PInette (Norwood, Mass.) pitched seven innings allowing one walk with six earned runs. Keith Johansen (Tyngsborough, Mass.) and Brian Wolfendale (Methuen, Mass.) came on in relief and each had one strikeout.
"A tough loss in the final home game today. We had a few good base knocks in the game," said head coach Jim Martin. "We would have liked to give our seniors a win in their last game at home."
The Warriors close out the 2011 slate with a doubleheader at Assumption May 7.
