Seventh-Inning Rally Leads Baseball Past Bentley, 6-1
Box Score | Postgame Video Comments
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Sophomore transfer Tim Cashman (Rowley, Mass.) posted eight strikeouts in the midst of a pitcher's duel, and his offense backed him up with four runs in the seventh, as the Merrimack baseball team remained unbeaten in Northeast-10 Divisional play with a 6-1 victory over Bentley in its home opener on a cold and windy Tuesday afternoon at the Warrior Baseball Diamond.
Improving to 16-6 overall on the year – just three wins back of last year's 19-win total – the Warriors saw their record in Northeast Division play remain perfect at 4-0, while the Falcons sunk to 9-14 overall and an even 2-2 inside the division. Merrimack will host four more games this weekend starting with a doubleheader against Pace on Saturday, April 6, starting at 12 p.m.
With both sides' offenses limited due to the battle between starting hurlers Cashman and Bentley's Lamarre Rey, Merrimack entered the bottom of the seventh looking to untie a 1-1 draw.
Thanks to a Bentley fielding error that prolonged the inning, Merrimack made the most of the opportunity, as senior Alan Pastyrnak Jr. (Bristol, Conn.) started the charge with a base knock through the box to score freshman Frank Crinella (Springfield, Mass.), accounting for the game-winning hit.
Merrimack would go on to score three more runs in the frame, as senior Casey Cotter (North Hampton, N.H.) drove in rookie Sean O'Neill (Norwood, Mass.) by means of another single through the middle, and after a walk loaded the bases, freshman Matt Brown (Belmont, Mass.) came through with a two-RBI single to center to make it 5-1 at the end of seven.
Pastyrnak Jr. would drive home one last run in the bottom of the eighth to account for an insurance run that ultimately wasn't needed, as junior righty Travis Terrill (Hudson, N.H.) kept Bentley at bay over the final two innings.
Cashman improved to 2-0 on the year by means of his seven-inning, one-run performance. The sophomore limited Bentley to just four hits and dominated the visitors with eight strikeouts and one walk. Rey fell to 0-3 despite all of his runs being unearned. The righty gave up five hits and struck out four. Connor Root tallied 1 1/3 innings of relief for Bentley and gave up an earned run on three hits, while Terrill totaled two strikeouts over two scoreless innings.
Both Pastyrnak Jr. and junior Eddie Newton (North Billerica, Mass.) each finished with two this apiece, while Brown and Pastyrnak Jr. led the way with two runs driven in. Merrimack finished the day with an 8-4 edge in hits while the defense posted a perfect day on the diamond.
The Warriors took the lead in the bottom of the third after senior Mark O'Flynn (Ipswich, Mass.) was credited with an RBI on a fielder's choice, but in the fifth, Bentley responded as Dante Padovani drove in the visitors' only run on a groundout.
That 1-1 deadlock would hold until the bottom of the seventh, when the Warrior offense came through to put the game away.
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