Cotter, Carnevale Dominate in Saturday Sweep over Pace
Box Score (Game 1) | Box Score (Game 2) | Cotter/Carnevale/Vasquez Postgame Video
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Trailing by five runs after the first inning of game one, the Merrimack baseball team kept calm and responded with four runs in the bottom of the fourth, as the Warriors rallied all the way back to take the opener, 9-6, before sweeping a doubleheader against Pace with a 5-0 shutout in game two on Saturday afternoon at the Warrior Baseball Diamond.
Moving to 18-6 and adding to one of the best starts to a season in program history, the Warriors will round out the weekend with a Northeast-10 Conference cross-division doubleheader on Sunday against Adelphi starting at noon. The Setters fell to 16-9 on the year after the losses.
Game 1
Pace wasted no time in jumping all over starter Mike Laracy (Weymouth, Mass.), who failed to get out of the first inning, but the Setters' early 5-0 cushion evaporated by the fourth inning, as the senior Joe Mantoni (Northbridge, Mass.) capped the comeback with a go-ahead, three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to give the Warriors a lead they'd never relinquish, as Merrimack outslugged Pace, 9-6, for a game one victory.
Mantoni's three RBI tied freshman Sean O'Neill (Norwood, Mass.) for most on the team, while senior Casey Cotter (North Hampton, N.H.) continued his outstanding year with a four-hit performance and scored two runs to back reliever Junior Vasquez (Lawrence, Mass.) to a win in an outstanding relief appearance.
Vasquez entered with runners on base with just one out in the first, but the local product settled in and went on to pitch 5 2/3 innings of stellar, scoreless relief, scattering six hits while striking out a career-high seven batters and just two over that span.
Neil Pezzullo took the loss after yielding all nine earned runs. Pezzullo surrendered 12 hits while striking out six and walking one.
Merrimack began its rally from 5-0 with two runs in the second and one in the third to trim the deficit to two heading into the fourth. After an RBI single from senior Mark O'Flynn (Ipswich, Mass.) cut the lead to one and put two men on, Mantoni stepped to the plate and unloaded on the first pitch he saw to deep right center, and just like that the Warriors owned a 7-5 advantage after four innings.
Vasquez would continue to keep the Pace offense in check while the Warriors added one more on a suicide squeeze by O'Neill in the fifth. Leading 8-5 in the seventh, each side would exchange runs during their respective turn at the plate, and after senior Beau Batchelor (Peabody, Mass.) tossed two innings, Mantoni entered the game in the ninth and set Pace down in order to lock up his team-leading fourth save of the year.
Merrimack held a slim 13-12 edge in hits during the opener, while each side combined to strand 15 runners (8-7 Pace). The Setters went 4-for-5 on the bases in game one, while freshman Frank Crinella (Springfield, Mass.) accounted for Merrimack's only swiped bag in three attempts. The rookie shortstop also posted a 2-for-3 showing and scored two runs in the opener.
Game 2
Merrimack took an early lead with three runs in the first and another in the second, and that was more than enough for sophomore ace Joe Carnevale (East Providence, R.I.), as the second-year righty dazzled once again on the mound to improve to 4-0 on the season and help sweep the Setters with a 5-0 victory in game two.
Backed by an early offensive showing, Carnevale dominated over his seven innings of work. The East Providence, R.I., native lasted seven innings and finished three shy of his career high with a nine-strikeout day. Carnevale scattered four hits and walked just two on the day before juniors Conner McMahon (Westfield, Mass.) and Tyler Cuming (Red Bank, N.J.) finished the game by pitching the final two frames.
Tim Deegan, who had not allowed an earned run heading into the contest, last four innings and yielded three runs, while Josh Grant and Josh Garran also totaled innings of relief for the visitors.
Cotter added to his outstanding day with a 3-for-4 showing at the dish and finished with a run and an RBI, while Crinella added two more hits (2-for-3), scored a run and drove in a run, as well.
Contrary to the early game, Merrimack never trailed in game two, as Cotter poked an RBI double to right center before freshman Matt Brown (Belmont, Mass.) drove in two more runs two batters later, giving the Warriors a 3-0 advantage after an inning.
A sacrifice fly off the bat of senior Alan Pastyrnak Jr. (Bristol, Conn.) made it a 4-0 game after two, prompting a five-inning span that saw neither side register a run. Merrimack tallied one late insurance run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Crinella, as the Warriors outhit Pace by a 9-4 margin to lock down the Saturday sweep.
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