Southern CT Sinks Baseball, 8-1, in Lone Monday Afternoon Tilt
Warriors total eight hits, muster just one run in 8-1 loss to SCSU
FORT PIERCE, Fla. – The Merrimack baseball team compiled eight hits over the course of its afternoon but managed to plate only one run, as a few missed opportunities and a plethora of runners left on base doomed the Warriors in an 8-1 setback against Southern Connecticut on Monday afternoon in Fort Pierce, Fla.
Losers of three in a row for the first time this spring, Merrimack falls to 5-4 overall while the Owls improve to 8-4. The Warriors will conclude their stint in the Sunshine State tomorrow (March 12) with a doubleheader against Mercy slated to begin at 12 p.m.
Merrimack's offense totaled seven hits against SCSU starter Rocco Cundari, but the Owls' hurler managed to work around a number of jams and benefitted from an eight-strikeout performance to limit the Warriors.
Junior righty Alek Morency (Nashua, N.H.) was tagged for his first earned runs of the spring, yielding six total runs – three earned – while striking out five and walking one over six and a third innings of work. Senior designated hitter Joe Mantoni (Northbridge, Mass.) pitched the final inning and a third for the Navy and Gold, yielding two unearned runs as part of a miscue-filled, four-run seventh inning that gave the Owls an insurmountable seven-run lead.
Cundari and Steve Landell paced the Southern Connecticut pitching staff with 11 strikeouts while yielding just the one earned run, while A.J. Rouleau and Brandon Docimo each posted three-hit days for the Owls. Meanwhile, sophomore catcher Dionys Quezada (Lawrence, Mass.) was the only multi-hit performer for the Warriors, finishing the day with two hits and the lone RBI for the Navy and Gold.
Southern took an early two-run lead, tacking on a pair of scores in the bottom of the first before Merrimack responded in the top of the second. Quezada scored the first and only Warrior run on an RBI base hit, setting up a potential big inning for the Merrimack offense. But the Navy and Gold would miss capitalizing on a bases-loaded situation, sending Southern back to the plate after an inning and a half.
The Owls would add one more run in the bottom of the second to back up by two (3-1), but once again Merrimack would miss an opportunity in the top of the third, stranding two more runners before Southern pushed across another run in the home half of the frame, giving the Owls a 4-1 edge after three innings of play.
Over the ensuing three innings, Morency would limit Southern's offense and keep them off the scoreboard, but Merrimack was equally stymied at the plate, as both sides were unable to scratch across a run until the bottom of the seventh.
With Morency still on the hill, the senior southpaw would give way to Mantoni, who came on in relief but back-to-back errors would pave the way for a four-run bottom of the seventh, pushing the Owls comfortably ahead, 8-1, to account for the final margin of victory after Merrimack's bats were kept in check in the final two innings of the contest.
The Warriors conclude their Florida trip with a doubleheader against Mercy on Tuesday (March 12) afternoon. Game 1 is set for 12 p.m.
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