Nocera Tosses Five Hitless Innings as Baseball Tops AIC, 6-2, from Haverhill Wednesday
Links: Box Score
HAVERHILL, Mass. – Redshirt-sophomore Michael Nocera (Bristol, Conn.) threw five innings of hitless ball and struck out eight American International hitters as the Merrimack College baseball team defeated the Yellow Jackets, 6-2, on Wednesday afternoon in the Northeast-10 Conference Opener for both squads.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 9, AIC 4
Records: Merrimack (9-4) | AIC (4-9)
Location: Trinity Stadium | Haverhill, Mass.
How It Happened
Nocera made his first career start for the Warriors in their league opener, and immediately had to get out of a jam in the top of the first. After walking the first three batters, Nocera induced a pop out to right fielder, a fielder's choice and a strikeout looking to end the inning.
In the bottom half, Mike Forgione (North Branford, Conn.) started things off with a double, and junior Tyler Lyne (Agawam, Mass.) followed with a single to left-center field to score Forgione and put the hosts up 1-0.
After stranding four Yellow Jackets over the next three innings, Nocera got out of more damage in the top of the fifth. Nocera walked the first two batters of the inning, who then reached second and third with no outs following a double steal. The Warriors hurler buckled down from there, striking out the side to escape unscathed.
The Warriors picked up more runs in the bottom half. After coming in as a defensive replacement, freshman Matthew Ronai (Orange, Conn.) laced a double down the leftfield line to score Bobby Losanno (Peabody, Mass.). Junior Cam DiSarcina (Shirley, Mass.) followed by slapping a single the opposite way that allowed Forgione to trot home from third.
Juniors Matt DiNello (Southington, Conn.), Perry Kulaga (Lincroft, N.J.) and Nate Spielvogel (Brookline, Mass.) combined to pitch the final four innings, striking out five Yellow Jackets. The Warriors staff combined for 13 K's on the day, and had no-hit the Yellow Jackets into the seventh before a single to left broke up the no-no bid.
Merrimack orchestrated a two-out rally in the bottom of eighth to pick up two insurance runs. Matt Nicholson (Rockland, Mass.) hit a triple and scored on a double by junior Ryan Petrone (Leicester, Mass.). Petrone came on home three pitches later when Pat Florence (Lowell, Mass.) singled him home.
Inside The Numbers
- Nocera's final line (W): 5.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 8 BB, 8 K's
- More on Mike: Nocera was effectively wild, stranding nine Yellow Jackets in his five innings of work. He worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the first and ended his afternoon by escaping a second-and-third zero-out situation in the fifth.
- The victory marked the first of his career, coming in his ninth appearance. He entered the day with 10 career strikeouts before mowing down eight Yellow Jackets
- Ronai continues to impress to start his career. He now has reached base in four of seven plate appearances, while his double on Wednesday marked his first career extra-base hit
- Forgione reached base twice from the leadoff spot, scoring two runs. He now has a four-game hit streak and has reached base in six straight contests. He has scored a team-high 14 runs
- Nicholson totaled a three-hit day, setting a new single-game high, and his triple marked his first-ever three-bagger
Up Next
The Navy and Gold travel to Flushing, N.Y. this weekend for a three-game series with Queens College. The set begins with a single game Friday at 3 p.m.
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