Baseball Sweeps Concordia to Open up Florida Trip with Two Wins
Baseball sweeps Concordia, improves to 5-1 on the year
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – After cruising to victory in the opener, the Merrimack baseball team survived an early onslaught from both offenses, as the Warriors swept their opening-day doubleheader in Florida, downing Concordia by scores of 12-4 and 12-6, respectively, to open up a seven-game stretch in Florida on a high note on Saturday afternoon at the Santaluces Complex in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Off to its best start since beginning the 2010 season with four wins through six games, the Warriors improve to 5-1 overall by means of the doubleheader sweep, while Concordia drops to 4-5 on the year.
Sophomore righty Joe Carnevale (East Providence, R.I.) and senior southpaw Mike Laracy (Weymouth, Mass.) each started for the Warriors and helped guide the Navy and Gold to a pair of victories.
Game 1
Guided by a two-run inning in the fourth and another six-spot in the fifth, the Warrior offense exploded in the middle innings while Carnevale limited Concordia to just one run to improve to 2-0 on the year, as Merrimack eased to a 12-4 victory in the opener over the Clippers.
With the score even at 1-1, sophomore catcher Dionys Quezada (Lawrence, Mass.) put the Warriors ahead with the team's first homer of the season, as the two-run blast pushed Merrimack on top, 3-1, in the bottom of the fourth.
Carnevale found himself in a jam in the top of the fifth, facing a two-on, nobody-out situation, but the sophomore righty dug deep and benefitted from some great team defense to escape the inning unscathed. Right on cue, Merrimack punched in six more runs in the home half of the inning, as RBI base knocks from senior Casey Cotter (North Hampton, N.H.) and classmate Joe Mantoni (Northbridge, Mass.) pushed the Warriors up by four, 5-1.
But the Merrimack bats were not satisfied, as Quezada tacked in two more runs with a bases-clearing single with runners at second and third. Then, rookie infielder Frank Crinella (Springfield, Mass.) added one more by means of a triple before scoring moments later by means of a passed ball, pushing the Warriors ahead, 9-1, after five innings of play.
From there on out, the Warriors would tack on three more runs, with one more coming in the sixth and two more in the seventh before eventually prevailing by the final score of 12-4. Concordia used a brief three-run rally in the top of the eighth, but by that point it was too little, too late, as senior Brett Julian (Weymouth, Mass.) closed the door in the ninth to give the Warriors the win in the opener.
Game 2
Merrimack hopped out with two early runs, as the Warriors survived an early onslaught of offense from both sides to eventually prevail, 12-6, to sweep the doubleheader against Concordia.
After a two-run top of the first, Concordia responded with its biggest inning of the day, as the Clippers put up a four-spot in the bottom of the first to go up, 4-2, in the early goings.
But the Warriors promptly went back on top with three runs in the top of the second, as senior Mark O'Flynn (Ipswich, Mass.) singled to lead things off and then scored on a throwing error before Newton poked in the tying run on a base hit. Before the inning ended, freshman Pat Florence (Lowell, Mass.) gave the Warriors a 5-4 lead with an RBI single up the middle, giving the Navy and Gold the edge after an inning and a half.
Following a two-spot for Concordia in the top of the second, Merrimack once again responded with three more runs in the top of the third, as a two-RBI double off the bat of Mantoni and another base hit from Florence pushed Merrimack up, 8-6, after three innings.
Despite both sides combing for 14 runs in the first three innings, each team's respective offense would calm down from that point on, as Merrimack would tack on a run in the top of the fifth and three more in the top of the seventh to account for the final margin of victory, as the Warriors wrapped up the win during the opening day of their Florida trip with a 12-6 victory over the Clippers.
Merrimack returns to action tomorrow (March 10), taking on American International in another doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m.
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