Baseball's Late Rally Falls Short in Senior Day Setback to Stonehill
Box Score
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Trailing by five heading into the bottom of the ninth, the Merrimack baseball team nearly added another dramatic finish for the third time in four games, but the Warriors' late charge was repelled by Stonehill, as the Skyhawks held on for an 8-6 decision over the Warriors on Senior Day at the Warrior Baseball Diamond.
Entering Saturday needing either a win or a loss from UMass Lowell against Bentley, the Warriors (25-17, 11-9 NE Div.) will look to close out the regular season and clinch a berth in the Northeast-10 Championships with a win outright against the Skyhawks (23-21, 9-11 NE Div.) in its home finale tomorrow afternoon. But before first pitch is thrown Sunday, Merrimack might already have sealed a spot in the playoffs depending on the outcome between a Saturday night Bentley-Lowell showdown.
"We fell behind early and battled back, I was proud of our guys for coming back in the ninth the way we did," head coach Jim Martin said afterward. "We'll need better, consistent enthusiasm and energy tomorrow from start to finish as we look to end the regular season on a high note."
Before the contest, Merrimack honored its eight seniors: Beau Batchelor, Casey Cotter, Brett Julian, Mike Laracy, Joe Mantoni, Mark O'Flynn, Alan Pastyrnak Jr., and Brian Wolfendale as part of the team's Senior Day ceremony. The eight Warriors had helped guide the program through a two-year rebuilding phase and this spring have overseen one of the best campaigns in recent memory. Merrimack's 25 victories in 2013 are the third-most in school history, and the group will be looking for a return trip to the playoffs after qualifying as freshman back in the spring of 2010.
But following the pregame festivities, Stonehill wasted no time hopping on top of sophomore Junior Vasquez (Lawrence, Mass.), getting to the right-hander for a run in the first and another in the fourth before loading the bases against him in the fifth. Wolfendale limited the damage to three in that inning, allowing the Skyhawks to take a 5-0 advantage after five innings of play.
Merrimack got back into the game with a two-spot in the bottom of the sixth, with sophomore John Pastyrnak (Bristol, Conn.) tallying an RBI before another run scored on an error, but the visitors quickly answered with two more runs in the top of the seventh, making it 7-2 in favor of the Skyhawks.
Cotter would put the Warriors to within four runs (7-3) after scoring on a throw down to second in the bottom of the seventh, but later in the game, Stonehill added an insurance run to take an 8-3 lead into the last of the ninth.
Cotter began the rally with a hit by pitch before a double off the bat of O'Flynn put runners at second and third. Mantoni then dropped a run-scoring single into left before a balk from the Stonehill reliever brought Merrimack to within three (8-5).
After junior Eddie Newton (Billerica, Mass.) laced a single to right, giving Merrimack a first-and-third, one-out situation, Armand Rugel was hailed from the Skyhawk bullpen to preserve the lead for the visitors. In what became a save situation, Rugel induced a bloop fly ball to center that was just caught, but a wild throw at the end of the play brought in yet another run and pushed Newton all the way to third with the Warriors down by two.
That would be the closest Merrimack would get, as the final batter skied out to center with the tying run at the plate, ending Merrimack's bid for a comeback after putting up three runs in its final at-bat.
Vasquez felt o 2-1 on the year after surrendering five runs, while Wolfendale, Laracy and Julian all saw relief work behind him. Stonehill starter Zach Soulier picked up his fifth win after seven strong innings, yielding three runs (one earned) on six hits while striking out three. Rugel, meanwhile, earned his sixth save of the year after getting the final two outs in the ninth.
Offensively, eight different Warriors managed a hit led by Cotter's 2-for-4 performance. Stonehill's top of the order led the way, with 1-2 hitters James DeAlto (3-for-5, 2 RBI) and Brian Campbell (3-for-5, RBI) contributing nearly half of Stonehill's 13-hit offense.
The Warriors and Skyhawks will conclude the weekend series Sunday (May 5) afternoon. First pitch from the Warrior Baseball Diamond is set for 3:30 p.m.
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