AIC Takes Two from Baseball, Completes Sunday Sweep
AIC 11, Merrimack 2 (Game 1) | AIC 9, Merrimack 8 (Game 2)
FORT PIERCE, Fla. – Leading by three runs heading into the final frame, the Merrimack baseball team squandered its late lead, as AIC stunned the Warriors with a four-run bottom of the seventh to win the late game, 9-8, and cap a day-night doubleheader sweep of the Navy and Gold on Sunday in Fort Pierce, Fla.
After pulling off a sweep of their own against Concordia a day earlier, the pair of losses drop the Warriors to 5-3 overall on the young season, while the Yellow Jackets move to 3-1 on the year.
Merrimack had a tough day against its Northeast-10 Conference rival; AIC built an early six-run lead before prevailing, 11-2, in the opening nine-inning contest. In the nightcap, both sides went back and forth in the early goings and were tied heading into the sixth.
After the Warriors went up by three runs and appeared on their way to a split, the Yellow Jackets rallied mightily, scoring four runs in the final frame of the seven-inning contest, completing the two-game sweep.
Game 1
After a scoreless first, AIC exploded ahead with five runs in the top of the second, as a string of errors by the Warriors scored three runs on one play before a sacrifice fly capped off the frame, putting the Yellow Jackets up 5-0 after two.
Down by six, sophomore Dionys Quezada (Lawrence, Mass.) poked the Warriors on the board with an RBI single before classmate John Pastyrnak (Bristol, Conn.) drove in one more with a sacrifice fly.
That, however, would be the only offense that Merrimack would muster in the opener. AIC would add another run in the top of the fifth before three more big hits – including a double and a homer – added three more to the Yellow Jacket lead in the top of the seventh. Before all was said and done, AIC knocked in one more run in the eighth to account for the final margin of victory.
Junior righty Travis Terrill (Hudson, N.H.) took the loss in the first game, while sophomore Matt Solar (Sterling, Mass.) and rookie southpaw Zach Schindler (Kingston, Mass.) each made their season debuts in relief duty.
Game 2
Serving as the visiting team in the late game, Merrimack wasted no time to try and erase the bad memories from earlier in the day, as the Navy and Gold hopped aboard with two runs in the top of the first to take an early 2-0 lead over AIC in the seven-inning Game 2.
Senior Casey Cotter (North Hampton, N.H.) and junior Eddie Newton (North Billerica, Mass.) each contributed to the early offensive burst; the former drove in the contest's first score on an RBI single, while the latter tacked on another on a groundout up the middle.
Getting the start in the late game, sophomore righty Tim Cashman (Rowley, Mass.) ran into trouble during his career debut with the Warriors. Cashman, who transferred from Bunker Hill Community College, surrendered three runs in the bottom of the first, as AIC went back ahead, 3-2, after an inning of play.
But after a scoreless second, the Merrimack offense plated a trio of runs in the top of the third, highlighted by another RBI base hit from Cotter before senior Joe Mantoni (Northbridge, Mass.) pushed in the go-ahead run on an other single. Before the inning was over, a third run would come in by means of a passed ball, giving the Warriors a 5-3 edge heading into the bottom of the third.
Cashman would settle down and toss another scoreless frame in the fourth before finding himself in another jam in the home half of the fifth. An error with runners on the corners allowed the Yellow Jackets to get to within one before eventually tying the contest at 5-all. That prompted the emergence of senior southpaw Brian Wolfendale (Methuen, Mass.) from the bullpen, who would retire the side to escape further damage.
Again, the Warriors would bounce right back, as an RBI double off the bat of sophomore Tom Lanzoni (Wallingford, Conn.) followed by a another run-scoring squeeze play off the bat of senior Mark O'Flynn (Ipswich, Mass.) gave Merrimack a 7-5 edge through five and a half.
Wolfendale would keep the Yellow Jackets off the board in the bottom of the sixth before senior Alan Pastyrnak Jr. (Bristol, Conn.) drove in an insurance run in the top of the seventh, giving the Warriors an 8-5 lead heading into the final half-inning of the day.
But down by three, AIC would complete the stunning rally against Wolfendale and then eventually senior Brett Julian (Weymouth, Mass.), as the Yellow Jackets plated four dramatic runs for the walk-off victory in the bottom of the seventh.
Merrimack returns to action to face Southern Connecticut for a single game starting at noon on Monday (March 11).
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