Baseball Edges Mercy, 8-6, Falls, 6-3, in Florida Finale Tuesday
WARRIORS SPLIT WITH MERCY IN FLORIDA FINALE TUESDAY
FORT PIERCE, Fla. – The Merrimack baseball team withheld a late rally to pick up one win before squandering a late lead in the late game, as the Warriors settled for a doubleheader split against Mercy on Tuesday afternoon in Fort Pierca, Fla.
The Warriors (6-5) finished their Florida trip with a 3-4 mark in the Sunshine State. But after sweeping Concordia back on Saturday, Merrimack finished just 1-4 in its remaining five games, including Tuesday's 8-6 win in the opener, as well as its 6-3 setback in the finale. Mercy, meanwhile, improved to 2-5-1 on the year.
Game 1
The Merrimack offense exploded for seven runs in the first three innings, and that early output proved to be the difference, as the Warriors withstood a late rally by Mercy to prevail, 8-6, in the first game of the Tuesday doubleheader.
Freshmen Frank Crinella (Springfield, Mass.) and Sean O'Neill (Norwood, Mass.) each drove in two runs apiece to lead the Warrior offense, while sophomore righty Junior Vasquez (Lawrence, Mass.) was good enough for the win in his first start in a Merrimack uniform. The local product tossed four innings and allowed two runs to move to 1-0 on the season, while junior lefty Conner McMahon (Westfield, Mass.) and senior southpaw Brian Wolfendale (Methuen, Mass.) each tallied relief appearances to preserve the win.
Merrimack struck early and often, as two runs in both the first and second innings, respectively, gave the Warriors a 4-0 advantage through two innings. In the bottom of the first, it was Quezada with a two-RBI base hit, and an inning later both Crinella and O'Neill tacked on back-to-back run-scoring singles to give the Warriors a four-run cushion after two frames.
Vasquez would battle out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the third to give way to the Warrior bats, and Merrimack's offense remained hot in the home half of the inning, as Crinella pushed in two more runs on a double followed by an RBI single from O'Neill to make it 7-0 in favor of the Warriors.
In the top of the fourth, Mercy would again force Vasquez into a jam, as the sophomore righty yielded back-to-back walks with the bases loaded to score a pair but again managed to battle out of the precarious spot to head into the bottom of the fourth with a 7-2 lead.
McMahon would enter the fifth in place of Vasquez, putting up a zero in his lone inning of work before Pastyrnak Jr. would drive in the Warriors' eighth run in the home half of the frame. That would prompt Wolfendale's entrance in the top of the sixth, who allowed a run in the top of the sixth and ran into trouble again in the seventh. Mercy managed to claw in three runs in its final at-bat, but Wolfendale shut the door when he needed it most, giving the Warriors a slim 8-6 win in the opener.
Game 2
In the late game, Merrimack fell behind by two runs early, but a bases-clearing double off the bat of senior Joe Mantoni (Northbridge, Mass.) in the top of the fifth gave the Warriors a temporary 3-2 lead. But Mercy would answer four runs in the bottom of the sixth, and that proved to be the difference, as the Warriors fell, 6-3, to settle for the doubleheader split.
The Warriors sent junior Tyler Cuming (Red Bank, N.J.) to the hill for the late game, and after a brief bump in the bottom of the first the right-hander settled down en route to putting up five consecutive scoreless innings and was in line for the win, but senior Beau Batchelor (Peabody, Mass.) would surrender the lead en route to the eventual defeat.
Serving as the home team in Game 2, Mery managed to put a two-spot up in the bottom of the first thanks to a two-out, two-RBI double against Cuming.
Equipped with that 2-0 lead, the Mavericks managed to keep the Warriors off the board through the first four innings, as neither side's offense could generate much else heading into the top of the fifth.
Then, with the bases juiced and with his team down by two, Mantoni came through in the clutch, ripping a three-RBI double to clear the bases and put the Warriors ahead by one, 3-2, heading into the bottom of the fifth.
After one more scoreless frame for Cuming, the junior got into trouble in the bottom of the sixth and eventually gave way to Batchelor. But the Mavericks would tie the game on a base hit against the senior righty before taking the lead on a sacrifice fly. Mercy tacked on two more insurance runs thanks to a two-RBI double before the inning finally ended, and the Warrior bats were kept in check in the top of the seventh to seal their fate.
Merrimack wraps up its seven-game Florida trip with a 3-4 record, with a sweep against Concordia and the one victory over the Mavericks. The Warriors will next travel to Caldwell (N.J.) this weekend for back-to-back doubleheaders. First pitch on Saturday (March 16) is slated for 10 a.m.
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