13-Inning Marathon, Spielvogel's Nine Strikeouts Caps Off Baseball's Sweep of Saint Anselm

4/29/2017 12:00:00 AM

Links: Box Score (Game 1)

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Cam DiSarcina (Shirley, Mass.) became the fourth player in program history to reach 200 career hits, classmate Nate Spielvogel (Brookline, Mass.) picked up the save in game one before recording 5.1 shutout innings of relief in the 13-inning nightcap as the Merrimack College baseball team swept the Saint Anselm Hawks on Saturday from Sullivan Park. The two wins completed the Northeast-10 Conference sweep of the Hawks, as the Navy and Gold recorded their fourth divisional sweep of the season.

The full box score from game two will be included as soon as it becomes available

The Basics
Score (G1): Merrimack 4, Saint Anselm 2
Score (G2 – 13 inn.): Merrimack 5, Saint Anselm 4
Records: Merrimack (22-16, 14-3 NE10 NE) | Saint Anselm (10-30, 3-16 NE10 NE)
Location: Sullivan Park | Manchester, N.H.          

Inning By Inning (G1)

• Bottom 2^nd – After a clean first inning, redshirt-sophomore Garrett Hudson (Greenfield, Mass.) returned to the hill in the second and recorded a pair of strikeouts to get Merrimack back to the sticks
• Top 3^rd – Merrimack's sticks gave Hudson a lead in the third. After a double play eliminated a two-on, no-out situation but left junior Mike Hoalcraft (Fayetteville, N.Y.) on third base, freshman Joey Porricelli (Monroe, Conn.) stepped into the box and hit a single the opposite way to make it a 1-0 game
• Top 4^th – Junior Matt Nicholson (Rockland, Mass.) doubled Merrimack's lead with his team-leading fifth homer of the season to center field
• Top 5^th – Needing one hit to reach 200 for his career entering the day, DiSarcina reached the milestone with a run-scoring double in the fifth, scoring senior Tyler Lyne (Agawam, Mass.). DiSarcina came around on a two-base hit from sophomore Matthew Ronai (Orange, Conn.) to give Hudson and the Warriors a 4-0 lead
• Bottom 6^th – Hudson got two quick outs in the sixth, but a walk and two singles consecutively gave the Hawks their first run. One more walk loaded the bases, but a grounder to third ended the frame with Merrimack ahead, 4-1
• Bottom 9^th – Saint Anselm pushed one run across against senior setup man Matt DiNello (Southington, Conn.) in the eighth to make it a 4-2 game when senior closer Nate Spielvogel (Brookline, Mass.) entering in the ninth. Spielvogel sprinkled in two singles and a passed ball to put the tying run in scoring position, but he struck out the side for his fifth save of the season

Inning By Inning (G2)

• Top 1^st – The Warriors got off to a strong start, putting up two runs in the first on a double by DiSarcina and a RBI groundout off the bat of Nicholson
• Top 3^rd – With Porricelli and DiSarcina on base, Nicholson drove a triple into right-center field that plated both runners and resulted in the rightfielder's first triple of the season. Merrimack led 4-0 through 2.5 innings
• Bottom 3^rd – Sophomore Tucker Lord (Cromwell, Conn.) took the ball in the second game, and struck out two Hawks to straight the third. The hosts responded with a two-out rally, however, scoring three runs on three straight singles to pull within one run, 4-3
• Bottom 6^th – A leadoff walk came back to haunt Lord in the sixth, coming around to score on a single to tie the game at four-all
• Bottom 7^th – With a career-high nine strikeouts to his credit, but allowing two runners to reach with two outs, Lord induced a pop out to senior catcher Chris Cimmino (Orange, Conn.) to return to the dugout unscathed
• Bottom 8^th – Sophomore Cam Monagle (Cambridge, Mass.) entered in the eighth, allowing the first two batters to reach. He eliminated the lead runner at third after a bunt came right back to the mound, and a grounder in the hole resulted in a force out at second. Spielvogel entered with two outs and runners on the corners, and recorded a swinging strikeout to end the inning
• Top 9^th – Merrimack mounted a two-out rally to put the go-ahead run on second, but Nicholson's line drive went right to the centerfielder to end the threat
• Bottom 9^th – Spielvogel got two strikeouts and a fly out to usher on extra innings
• Top 13^th – Merrimack's closer put up zeros in the 10^th, 11^th and 12^th innings – fanning seven Hawks in the process – to bring the Warriors up in the 13^th. Junior Ricky Smith (Weymouth, Mass.) drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from graduate shortstop Mike Forgione (North Branford, Conn.) and scored a two-out single from Porricelli to give the Warriors a 5-4 lead
• Bottom 13^th – Spielvogel's career season continued with a career outing, as he punched out his ninth Hawk to end the contest and recorded the victory

Game 1 Notes

• G1: WP – Hudson (4-2) | LP – Levasseur (3-6) | S – Spielvogel (5)
• DiSarcina's milestone moment brought the fourth-year Warrior into a tie for fourth all-time in program history in hits (200). He became the fourth Warrior to reach the 200-hit plateau, and in the process set a new career high with his NE10-leading 18^th double of the season
• Nicholson's homer put him in all along in first place for the Warriors, rounding the bases on five occasions this season. He has clubbed the third-most homers in the NE10 this season
• With his fifth save, Spielvogel now has at least five in three straight seasons. He moved into a tie for second in the NE10 in saves with the three-out stoppage. Among pitchers with at least one save in the conference, Spielvogel ranks third in K's per nine innings (15.63)
• Hudson's final line included six innings of work, allowing just one earned run and recording six strikeouts. It marked his first win since a relief appearance at Sullivan Park in the series opener between the Hawks and Warriors

Game 2 Notes

• G2: WP – Spielvogel (2-0)
• Spielvogel's final line included 5.1 IP of shutout ball, zero runs allowed and nine strikeouts. It marked career bests in innings pitched and punch outs for a single game
• In a game that saw the offense sputter after early inning success, Porricelli was the bright spot for the Navy and Gold. The rookie third baseman finished with four hits and the game-winning RBI
• With the sweep, Merrimack increased its winning streak to seven games and is a season-best six games over .500

Up Next
The Warriors return to Saint Anselm tomorrow afternoon to face the Hawks at 1 p.m. from Sullivan Park in a non-divisional contest, the fourth overall this season between Merrimack and Saint Anselm.   

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