Baseball Relinquishes Lead, Falls in Extra Innings at AIC 5-4
SPRINGFIELD, MA- The Merrimack baseball team dropped a 5-4 decision at American International Thursday afternoon in 11 innings. The Warriors sink to 12-16 on the season while the Yellow Jackets improve to 8-11-1 overall.
Mark O'Flynn (Ipswich, MA) paced Merrimack with three hits and an RBI in the contest. Tim Curran (Weymouth, MA) chipped in with a pair of base knocks on the day. Joe Mantoni (Northbridge, MA) drove in two RBIs while Alan Pastyrnak (Bristol, CT) registered one.
The Warriors struck for the first runs on the game in the fifth inning. Tom Lanzoni (Wallingford, CT) raked a one-out triple to the gap in right center. Pastyrnak plated the rookie from third with a sacrifice fly to center, giving Merrimack a 1-0 advantage.
Curran and Casey Cotter (North Hampton, NH) kept the visitor's momentum going with a single and double, respectively. Mantoni cleared the bases as he reached base on an error to extend the Warriors' lead to 3-0.
Merrimack tacked on a run in the seventh frame to capture a 4-0 edge. With two runners on base, O'Flynn laced a single through the right side of the infield to score Curran from second.
American International clawed back with three runs in the home half of the inning to cut the deficit to one, 4-3. Nick Devine doubled to lead off the frame and came around to score on a single by Dave Clark. With the bases loaded and no outs, Dan Fenton singled up the middle to drive in a run. Dennis Duffy pulled the hosts to within one run as his sacrifice fly sliced the Warriors' lead to 4-3.
The Yellow Jackets knotted the score at 4-4 in the eighth inning. Lucas Vallas singled into left field to plate the tying run.
In the bottom of the 11th, American International walked off with a non-conference victory as Kyle McNiff singled up the middle to drive in the game-winning run.
Travis Terrill (Hudson, MA) tossed 6.1 innings in his seventh start of the season and fanned three batters. Brett Julian (Weymouth, MA) worked 2/3 of an inning as he finished the seventh frame with a pair of flyouts. Beau Batchelor (Peabody, MA) hurled one inning of relief in his eighth appearance of the year. Chris Pinette (Norwood, MA) pitched the final 2.2 innings for Merrimack while picking up four strikeouts.
The Warriors return to action as they host a weekend doubleheader against New Haven April 7.
