Crinella Homers, Steals Home in Baseball's 10-7 Divisional Win vs. Bentley
Links: Box Score | Frank Crinella Interview
NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. – Junior third baseman Frank Crinella (East Longmeadow, Mass.) hit his second home run of the season and successfully stole home as the Merrimack College baseball team defeated the Bentley Falcons, 10-7, on Tuesday afternoon in Northeast Divisional play from the Warrior Baseball Diamond.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 10 | Bentley 7
Records: Merrimack (13-11, 5-6 NE Div.) | Bentley (5-15, 3-5 NE Div.)
Location: Warrior Diamond | North Andover, Mass.
What They Said
Head coach Nick Barese: "It was a great win today, and even better to even the series with Bentley. We talked all week about things not getting out of control, and we were mentally tough today. Schindler kept the game in control and gave us a solid start. Offensively, we never let up and Frank Crinella really sparked us. It was important to go into the Franklin Pierce series on a high note."
How It Happened
The Warriors entered an important mid-week contest by handing the ball to junior lefty Zach Schindler (Kingston, Mass.), who entered the game looking for his first win of the year. The game marked the second of a three-game season series between the Warriors and the Falcons. Bentley took the first game on Saturday, 7-4.
The first inning started with a bang for the Warriors, as leadoff man Tyler Lyne (Agawam, Mass.) ripped a triple into right-center field to begin the game. Crinella followed with a broken-bat single into left field for the first run of the afternoon. After a hit from Cam DiSarcina (Shirley, Mass.), the Warriors had men on second and third with zero outs, but could not get more than the one run.
In the top of the fourth, a two-RBI triple gave the Falcons a 2-1 advantage. Bentley tacked on one more in the frame to make it 3-1. In the bottom of the inning, Crinella sparked the offense again. After already scoring one run, the All-American stood on third and junior Sean O'Neill (Norwood, Mass.) faced a 3-0 count. O'Neill took the ensuing pitch and as lefthander Evan Walsh began his motion, Crinella took off for the plate. He slid in feet first safely to tie the contest at 3-3.
The Warriors took the lead for good in their next at-bat, as sophomore Ryan Petrone (Leicester, Mass.) hit a run-scoring double, and Crinella collected his third hit of the game to score Petrone to make it 6-3. In the bottom of the seventh, with two runs already home, Crinella stepped into the box and ripped one over the left-field fence for his second home run of the season, putting the game out of reach at 10-4.
Schindler got through seven innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. He struck on six Falcons and walked only one batter. Sophomore closer Nate Spielvogel (Brookline, Mass.) came in after Bentley added three runs in the eighth inning to pitch a one-two-three ninth and picked up his third save of the season.
Inside The Numbers
- Making his third start of the year and sixth start of his career, Schindler record his first win of 2015 and the second victory of his career. With the six strikeouts, he increased his season total to 14, setting a new career high
- Stealing home: Crinella's swipe of home plate marked Merrimack's first straight steal of home this season. Earlier in the year, Petrone gave the Warriors a walk-off win against Nyack with a steal of home as a result of a successful first-and-third play
- Crinella's blast was his second of the season and ninth of his career. He now has hit safely in eight straight games and 18 of 24 games this season. His four base knocks establishes a new season high and was his 10th multi-hit game of the campaign
- It didn't show up in the box score, but junior centerfielder Bobby Losanno (Peabody, Mass.) made one of the most impressive plays of the season in the top of the seventh. Bentley's catcher Bryan Rocha hit a ball to deep center field, and Losanno tracked it back to the wall, leaped and hung onto the ball as he crashed into the fence in front of the 390-marker
Up Next
The Warriors open up a three-game series with No. 3 Franklin Pierce on Saturday with a single game at 3 p.m. Merrimack will honor its seven-member Class of 2015 with a special pregame ceremony as part of the Senior Day festivities.
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