Florence Executes Squeeze Play in Baseball's Walk-Off Win, 7-6, in Home Finale Tuesday
Links: Box Score | Pat Florence Interview
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Facing a 6-0 deficit after the first three innings, the Merrimack College baseball team worked its way back to force extra innings on Tuesday afternoon against Bentley University, and senior catcher Pat Florence (Lowell, Mass.) knocked in the game-winning run on a squeeze play in the bottom of the 11th to give the Warriors a 7-6 victory in their home finale from the Warrior Baseball Diamond.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 7, Bentley 6
Records: Merrimack (26-17, 10-8 NE Div.) | Bentley (14-24, 6-13 NE Div.)
Location: Warrior Diamond | North Andover, Mass.
NE-10 Postseason Outlook:
The top-four teams in the Northeast Division advanced to the NE-10 Championships, with the top-two seeds hosting the third and fourth seeds in first-round games on Tuesday, May 10. Merrimack needs to win one of its three games against Stonehill to clinch a spot in the conference tournament.
1. Franklin Pierce (17-1)
2. Southern N.H. (17-3)
3. Merrimack (10-8)
4. Stonehill (9-9)
5. Assumption (9-10)
6. Bentley (6-13)
7. Saint Michael's (4-13)
8. Saint Anselm (3-18)
How It Happened
After two scoreless innings to begin the game, freshman starter Riley Sorenson (Sandwich, Mass.) ran into trouble in the top of the third. The Falcons totaled six hits in the frame, including three run-scoring singles. The big hit in the frame came off the bat of Justin Ashworth, a two-run double down the leftfield line. Junior Matt DiNello (Southington, Conn.) came in to retire the final two batters, but the Falcons held a 6-0 lead.
Merrimack scored its first runs in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, Cam DiSarcina (Shirley, Mass.) scored from third on a passed ball and Matt Brown (Belmont, Mass.) advanced to third. Sophomore Mike Hoalcraft (Fayetteville, N.Y.) continued to swing a hot bat by plating Brown on a single to right field.
A RBI single from junior Tyler Lyne (Agawam, Mass.) in the fifth made it a 6-3 game before the Warriors tied it in the bottom of the sixth. Sean O'Neill (Norwood, Mass.) crossed the plate for the inning's first run on a groundout. Hoalcraft knocked in Brown for the second time to account for the second run and Merrimack's fifth overall. The third baseman scored the game-tying on a first-and-third play. Senior Bobby Losanno (Peabody, Mass.) drew a throw down to second and got caught in a rundown, during which Hoalcraft scored to make it 6-6.
From when DiNello came in during the top of the third, the Merrimack bullpen kept the Falcons off the scoreboard the rest of the game. The Warriors' third-year righty tossed 4.2 frames, getting the Warriors threw the seventh. Junior Perry Kulaga (Lincroft, N.J.) took the hill in the top of the eighth, allowing only one hit in his three innings of work. Junior Nate Spielvogel (Brookline, Mass.) was aided by a leaping catch from Losanno to strand two runners in scoring position in the 11th.
Sophomore Matt Nicholson (Rockland, Mass.) started the bottom half with a line-drive double to left center, and was replaced by Matthew Ronai (Orange, Conn.) as a pinch runner. Ronai advanced to third on a groundout before scampering home on a 0-1 pitch to Florence, who sent his bunt to the right side of the pitcher's mound, giving Ronai enough time to make it 90 feet down the line.
Inside The Numbers
- DiNello's final line (ND): 4.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 5 K's
- The pen comes through: The combination of DiNello, Kulaga and Spielvogel tossed 8.2 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing only five hits and combining to strikeout nine Falcons
- DiNello has lowered his ERA to 2.96, which is on pace to be a new career high. He allowed just two earned runs over his last 13.2 innings of work
- Offensively, Florence knocked in the game-winner in his final home game. His splits currently sit at .320/.441/.367, as he owns the squad's highest on-base percentage
- Losanno, who is having a career year as well, increased his team-leading average to .359 with a three-hit game. He has 14 multi-hit games this season, including three straight, and eight contests of at least three hits
- Since joining the starting lineup eight games ago, Hoalcraft has hit safely in six of eight contests, collecting a pair of two-hit games over his last two starts
Up Next
The Warriors conclude the regular season with a three-game series at Stonehill beginning on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. The matchup pits two regionally ranked programs against each other, with the Skyhawks ranking at No. 6 and the Warriors landing in the eighth spot in the most recent regional poll.
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