Late Four-Run Rally Propels Baseball to 4-3 Victory at Bentley Tuesday Afternoon
Links: Box Score
WALTHAM, Mass. – The Merrimack College baseball team entered the top of the seventh inning facing a 3-0 deficit, but rallied to score four runs over the next three innings to come away with a 4-3 win at Bentley University on Tuesday afternoon. The victory marked the second divisional win in eight days for the Warriors over the Falcons.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 4, Bentley 3
Records: Merrimack (23-11, 7-2 NE Div.) | Bentley (9-21, 1-10 NE Div.)
Location: DeFelice Field | Waltham, Mass.
How It Happened
Merrimack won the series opener by an 11-9 final as the two local rivals met again to continue their three-game series.
Junior Perry Kulaga (Lincroft, N.J.) made his career-high tying eighth start of the season, facing the Falcons for the first time in his career. He worked around three hits over the first three innings, striking out two Falcons and kept them off the scoreboard. Kulaga's counterpart Will Alden did the same, with neither team scoring entering the bottom of the fourth.
Bentley tallied a run in each of its next three at-bats to take a 3-0 advantage. The Falcons hit a home run in the fourth followed by consecutive run-scoring singles in the fifth and sixth innings.
The Warriors broke through against the Alden in the seventh. Freshman Matthew Ronai (Orange, Conn.) and senior Pat Florence (Lowell, Mass.) reached base on back-to-back singles to put two on for Bobby Losanno (Peabody, Mass.), the Warriors' leading hitter. The centerfielder hit a fly ball to left that dropped after a miscue by the Falcons outfield, allowing Ronai to score. Florence advanced to third on the play before coming home on a run-scoring grounder by Mike Forgione (North Branford, Conn.).
Junior Cam DiSarcina (Shirley, Mass.) led the eighth inning off with an infield single, moving into scoring position on a groundout by Sean O'Neill (Norwood, Mass.). Senior Matt Brown (Belmont, Mass.) knocked him in with an opposite-field single to tie the game at three-all.
Florence led off the top of the ninth by reaching base on a hit-by-pitch, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Losanno. After reaching scoring position, Florence was replaced by Paul Buckley (Sagamore Beach, Mass.). Forgione singled into centerfield, moving Buckley over to third, and Tyler Lyne (Agawam, Mass.) delivered the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly.
Kulaga finished one out shy of consecutive complete games, but was replaced by Nate Spielvogel (Brookline, Mass.) after allowing two baserunners. Merrimack's closer got the final out on a strikeout looking, needing only four pitches to end the game.
Inside The Numbers
- Kulaga's final line (W, 5-1): 8.2 IP, 13 H, 3 ER, 5 K
- By recording the final out of the game, Spielvogel picked up his fourth save of the year and 10th of his career, tying the program record. Brett Julian (2010-13) graduated with 10 saves three years ago
- Brown, DiSarcina and Florence all recorded multi-hit games. Lyne's lone hit of the game was a triple, notching his team-leading fifth of the season
- The win gave the Warriors the series victory over the Falcons, winning both of the games played at DeFelice Field. The series finale will be on Tuesday, May 3, at the Warrior Baseball Diamond
Up Next
Merrimack concludes its season series with Saint Anselm tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 p.m. from the Warrior Baseball Diamond. The Warriors and Hawks split the first two contests earlier this season.
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