Baseball Wraps Up 3-1 Conference Weekend with Doubleheader Split vs. AIC
Box Score (Game 1) | Box Score (Game 2)
HAVERHILL, Mass. – With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth, senior right-hander Joe Mantoni (Northridge, Mass.) recorded back-to-back strikeouts to preserve a one-run lead and help the Warriors split a Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader against AIC, taking game two by a 2-1 margin after dropping the opener, 6-3, on Sunday afternoon at Trinity Stadium in Haverhill, Mass.
After going 3-1 over the course of the weekend with a Saturday sweep against Assumption and a split on Sunday against the Yellow Jackets (7-5, 1-1 NE-10), the Warriors pushed their record to a solid 12-6 and 3-1 in league play, and will next travel to UMass Lowell Wednesday (March 27) for a single-game tilt at 3:30 p.m. before welcoming Saint Michael's on Thursday for the team's home opener.
Game 1
After building a two-run lead through four innings of play, Merrimack's often-potent offense would not muster much else the rest of the way, as AIC tied the game with two in the fifth and went ahead with a four-spot in the sixth to eventually take game one, 6-3.
While both sides finished with eight hits apiece in the opener, AIC benefitted from a game-changing error in the bottom of the sixth, one that resulted in four unearned runs scoring on a play that proved to be the difference in the ballgame.
Junior righty Travis Terrill (Hudson, N.H.) started for the Warriors and took the tough-luck loss after allowing two earned runs on six hits over 5-1/3 innings while striking out three. Senior Beau Batchelor (Peabody, Mass.) worked the final 2-2/3 frames and struck out five while walking one.
AIC starter Matt Lee earned the win after lasting seven innings, scattering eight hits and three earned runs while fanning five and walking one. Geoff McCowat notched his third save of the year after shutting the door in the ninth.
Merrimack jolted ahead on an RBI double off the bat of Mantoni in the top of the fourth before freshman Matt Brown (Belmont, Mass.) drove in the second run on a fielder's choice later in the inning.
But the Yellow Jackets tied the contest with two in the bottom of the fifth before striking for a quartet of runs in the sixth, moving ahead, 6-2, at the time.
Brown would muster Merrimack's lone other run in the game, scoring senior Mark O'Flynn (Ipswich, Mass.) on a sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth. But that would be the closest the Warriors would come before ultimately falling by three.
Game 2
In a contest that turned out to be a classic pitcher's duel, sophomore righty Tim Cashman (Rowley, Mass.) out-dueled AIC's Harrison Paige, as the Warriors squeaked by the Yellow Jackets, 2-1, to salvage the afternoon split.
Cashman tossed one of his finest outings as a member of the Navy and Gold, lasting 7-2/3 innings while striking out a career-high 12 batters and working around three hits, three walks and just one earned run to capture his first win of the season. Paige, meanwhile, tossed a complete game, taking the loss after allowing two runs and six hits while striking out six.
Merrimack hopped ahead quickly on an RBI triple off the bat of O'Flynn in the top of the first, and that lead would hold all the way until the bottom of the fifth, when AIC struck for its only run of the game against Cashman.
But just a half-inning later, after O'Flynn led off the sixth with his second triple of the game, classmate Casey Cotter (North Hampton, N.H.) would ground out to drive him home, and that one-run cushion was all that Cashman required.
The sophomore righty found himself in a precarious situation in the bottom of the eighth, as AIC loaded the bases with two outs down by a run. That, however, prompted Mantoni's entrance into the contest, and the senior induced an inning-ending groundout to get out of the jam.
Still, the Yellow Jackets threatened again in the ninth, loading the bases with just one out against Mantoni, but the Northbridge, Mass., native struck out the final two batters consecutively to wrap up the win.
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