Offense Powers Baseball to 9-3 Victory over Bentley
Links: Box Score
WALTHAM, Mass. – The Merrimack College baseball team powered past Bentley University on Tuesday afternoon in the series finale between the programs, 9-3, behind 16 hits from its offense. The win clinched the season series for the Warriors, and gave Merrimack the tiebreaker in the divisional standings between the two squads.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 9 | Bentley 3
Records: Merrimack (16-16, 8-11 NE Div.) | Bentley (9-20, 7-10 NE Div.)
Location: DeFelice Field | Waltham, Mass.
NE-10 Postseason Outlook
The top-four teams in the Northeast Division advance to the Northeast-10 Championship. Division records are in parentheses. Merrimack's victory today ensures that if the Falcons and Warriors conclude the season tied, Merrimack owns the tiebreaker. Bentley plays four games over the weekend, while the Navy and Gold conclude the year with a doubleheader Saturday against Assumption. Standings as of 4/28/15
1) Franklin Pierce 38-2 (16-1)
2) Southern NH 29-9 (15-4)
3) Stonehill 28-10-1 (14-5)
4) Merrimack 16-16 (8-11)
5) Bentley 9-20 (7-10)
6) Saint Anselm 13-23 (7-13)
7) Assumption 8-28 (4-14)
8) Saint Michael's 10-28 (4-17)
What They Said
Head coach Nick Barese: "We talked all week about controlling what we can control and just win. We got another solid start from Schindler and offensively we got a lot of key hits. DiSarcina and Lyne sparked us and everyone, No. 1-9, contributed."
How It Happened
The Warriors handed to ball to lefthander Zach Schindler (Kingston, Mass.), while the Falcons gave Evan Walsh his third start of the season. Schindler and Walsh battled two weeks ago, when the Warriors came away with a 10-7 victory.
Merrimack immediately got to Walsh, as leadoff man Tyler Lyne (Agawam, Mass.) started the game with a triple and sophomore Cam DiSarcina (Shirley, Mass.) singled him home to stake Schindler to a 1-0 lead. The same combination combined to plate a run in the third, as DiSarcina singled Lyne home to make it 2-0.
Merrimack took advantage of Bentley errors in the top of the sixth. Trailing 2-1, Walsh actually record the first two outs of the inning before three straight batters reached for Merrimack. With the bases loaded, Dionys Quezada (Lawrence, Mass.) popped a ball into short right field that was mishandled by the second baseman. Junior Matt Brown (Belmont, Mass.) and sophomore Ryan Petrone (Leicester, Mass.) raced home to make it 4-1 Merrimack. Three more runs came around to score on doubles from freshman Ricky Smith (Weymouth, Mass.) and Lyne. Of the five Warriors' runs in the frame, all went down as unearned tallies.
In the bottom of the inning, Schindler ran into trouble. The first two Falcons reached base, and Mike Muir, the next hitter, appeared to foul out to Smith at catcher, but the rookie could not corral the popup. Muir responded by slapping a single into right field, scoring two runs to make it 7-3. Schindler got the next three hitters out with a strikeout, pop up and a foul out to end the frame.
Merrimack tacked on two more runs to reach nine for the game. Freshman Anthony Lupi (Dover, N.H.) and senior Colin Smith (Somerset, Mass.) combined to toss three innings of scoreless relief to win the game. With the win, the Warriors win the series with Bentley and clinch the head-to-head tiebreaker between the programs in the divisional standings.
Inside The Numbers
- Schindler continues to come on strong in the second half of the year. He picked up his third victory over the season and third consecutive win. His final line included six innings pitched with three runs, one earned, and four strikeouts. He was able to keep Bentley in the park, as the Falcons committed 10 fly-ball outs
- The five-run sixth inning proved to be the difference maker for the Warriors. Merrimack has now scored 29 sixth-inning runs this season, tied for the most in any frame this year
- Lyne and DiSarcina both set season highs with four-hit games. For Lyne, he is now 8-for-15 over his last three games, with three runs scored and two doubles. DiSarcina previously had four three-hit games, and finally got the elusive fourth hit on Tuesday
- Losanno and Quezada contributed from the bottom third of the order, coming for four hits and four runs scored
Up Next
Merrimack concludes the regular season with a doubleheader out in Worcester on Saturday against Assumption. First pitch of Game 1 is at 12 p.m. Bentley has two games in hand on the Warriors, but a sweep of the Greyhounds will put the Navy and Gold in good position to lock up the final playoff spot in the division.
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