Morency, Five-Run Fifth Powers Baseball to Doubleheader Split at Lowell
Box Score (Game 1) | Box Score (Game 2)
LOWELL, Mass. – Ahead by a run midway through game two, the Merrimack baseball team's offense came alive with five runs in the top of the fourth to power the Warriors to a 7-4 victory in the nightcap over UMass Lowell after the River Hawks earned a 13-2 win in the opener in Northeast-10 Conference Divisional action on Wednesday afternoon at LeLacheur Park.
By virtue of the split, Merrimack moves to 21-15 on the season with an even 7-7 record in Northeast Division play. Tied with the River Hawks (25-16, 7-7 NE Div.) in the league standings, the Warriors sit in fifth place and will have their work cut out for them heading into a weekend three-game series at home against first-place and nationally ranked Franklin Pierce.
"It was great to see our guys show mental toughness and come back and win game two after losing the way we did in game one," head coach Jim Martin said afterward. "Alek Morency was outstanding on the mound and we executed at a high level offensively, moving runners, stealing bases and getting hits with runners in scoring position."
Game 1
With the game even at 1-1, UMass Lowell exploded with a pair of six-run innings in consecutive at-bats to power the hosts to a 13-2 win over Merrimack to start the day.
The hosts slugged out 16 hits – led by a 4-for-5 showing at the dish from right fielder Joe Consolmagno – while sophomore Tim Cashman (Rowley, Mass.) took the loss (2-3) after yielding six earned runs over 4 1/3 innings. Lowell starter Tyler Toyfair (2-1) picked up the win with a seven-inning outing, striking out nine and walking none over that span.
Despite boasting a trio of two-hit performers, the Warrior offense mustered single-run innings in the first and the eighth, as senior Casey Cotter (North Hampton, N.H.), junior Eddie Newton (North Billerica, Mass.) and freshman Frank Crinella (Springfield, Mass.) each tallied two hits apiece. Crinella and senior Mark O'Flynn (Ipswich, Mass.) garnered the Warriors' only two RBI of the contest.
Merrimack wasted no time toward taking an early lead, as an O'Flynn groundout in the top of the first scored Cotter – who led off the game with a double – to make it 1-0 in favor of the visitors after a half inning.
Two innings later, the River Hawks responded with a run to tie it, as Jimmy Ricoy singled home Consolmagno to draw even. Then, in the fifth, the wheels fell off for Cashman, as a two-run homer off the bat of James Katsiroubas opened the floodages before junior Tyler Cuming (Red Bank, N.J.) relieved Cashman. Before the inning ended, Lowell would plate three more runs to take a 7-1 lead after five.
Then in the sixth, it was Consolmagno again at the forefront of a six-run inning, belting a bases-clearing double to highlight another six-run, four-hit frame for the hosts, putting the game out of reach.
The Warriors would get one back in the eighth, but at that point it was too little, too late, as Merrimack suffered an 11-run loss in game one.
Game 2
Senior Joe Mantoni (Northbridge, Mass.) sparked the offense early with a two-run homer in the top of the first, and that set the tone for junior Alek Morency (Nashua, N.H.), who got the start in game two on short rest and performed superbly to power the Warriors to a 7-4 win in the nightcap to split the day-night doubleheader against Lowell.
With Morency (5-3) on the hill, Merrimack's offense need not have its best day at the plate with the way the junior ace had been performing as of late. And Wednesday was no different for Morency, who tossed another seven-inning, one-hit gem while striking out three to get the win.
Offensively, both O'Flynn and Mantoni drove in two runs apiece while sophomore Dionys Quezada (Lawrence, Mass.) led the visitors with two hits in three at-bats. Both he and Crinella tallied a team-high two runs scored apiece, while senior Alan Pastyrnak Jr. (Bristol, Conn.) belted a triple for the Warriors.
Equipped with a 2-0 lead after an inning, Morency buckled down before running into trouble in the third. Lowell managed to plate one run against the righty but not much more, giving the Warriors a chance to add to their lead.
Merrimack had that opportunity in the top of the fifth, as the visitors plated four runs on three hits. Freshman Bobby Losanno (Peabody, Mass.) singled home Quezada to extend Merrimack's lead to 3-1. Then, with the bases loaded, O'Flynn knocked in a pair on a base hit to left before a wild pitch brought home Crinella, giving the Warriors 6-1 lead after five innings.
From there on out, Pastyrnak Jr.'s RBI triple in the eighth wrapped up Merrimack's offensive showing. Lowell made one last push in the bottom of the ninth and had the tying run in the hole, but Mantoni registered the final out of the game to pick up his sixth save of the season, sealing the doubleheader split for the Warriors.
Merrimack returns to action Saturday (April 27) afternoon at home against Franklin Pierce. The two teams' single-game showdown at the Warrior Baseball Diamond is slated to begin at 3:30 p.m.
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