SNHU Holds Off Baseball for Weekend Sweep; Warriors Drop 4-2 Contest Sunday
Box Score
MANCHESTER, N.H. – Down by four runs in the top of the ninth, the Merrimack baseball team rallied for two and had the tying runs at second and third base, but Alex Powers shut the door for the second game in a row, as the Warriors fell, 4-2, Sunday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference Divisional action at Penmen Field.
Suffering a rare weekend sweep in conference play while seeing their season-high losing streak reach six games, the Warriors move to 18-12 on the year, including a 4-4 mark in Northeast Division play to move into fifth place in the eight-team field.
"I'm proud of our effort," head coach Jim Martin said afterward. "We competed until the very end. We had opportunities but were not able to capitalize. Joe Carnevale pitched well enough to win, and we're going to have to tighten up certain areas of our game and come ready to play Tuesday."
The Penmen (25-10, 11-7 NE-10) outslugged Merrimack, 8-3, in the hits department and take over first place in the Northeast Division by virtue of the weekend sweep. Jon Massad was brilliant over 8 2/3 innings for the host, surrendering two unearned runs while striking out six and walking one.
Powers came in to record the final out in the ninth, and, after allowing a run to score on a wild pitch, induced a game-ending groundout to second to seal the deal. Sophomore Joe Carnevale (East Providence, R.I.) took the loss for the Warriors, his first of the spring (4-1). The righty lasted seven innings and yielded four earned runs while fanning three and walking three. Junior Tyler Cuming (Red Bank, N.J.) also logged a scoreless inning of relief for the Navy and Gold.
SNHU edged ahead by a run in the bottom of the second, as an RBI single through the right side off the bat of Mike Mastroberti scored Andy Lalli to put the hosts up, 1-0, after two. Two innings later, the Penmen doubled the lead on another RBI from Mastroberti, this time through means of a sacrifice fly, pushing SNHU's advantage to 2-0 after four frames.
With the Warrior bats silent for the most part, SNHU capitalized again in the bottom of the sixth, as Mastroberti came through with his third RBI of the game on a base knock through the left side before Brendan O'Brien drove home another on a groundout to first, pushing the Penmen ahead by four after six innings.
Merrimack's bats would remain quiet until the ninth. Then, with runners at first and second and two outs, the Warriors mounted a late charge. Freshman Matt Brown (Belmont, Mass.) loaded the bases on a single to left before freshman Frank Crinella (Springfield, Mass.) drove in the first Merrimack run on a base hit to right field, making it 4-1 and prompting Powers' entrance into the game.
After a wild pitch scored another run and moved Brown to third and Crinella to second with the Warriors trailing by two, the SNHU closer got the final Merrimack batter of the game to groundout to second, sealing the win for the hosts.
Merrimack returns to Northeast Division action on Tuesday, April 16, with a home tilt against Bentley slated for a 3:30 p.m. first pitch.
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