Baseball Faces Midweek Test at AIC Thursday

Matchup	Merrimack (8-12) at AIC (12-12)
Date//Time	Thursday, April 5 (3:30 p.m.)
Venue	Bedard Field (Springfield, Mass.)
Multimedia	Live Stats
Social Media	Twitter // Instagram

 
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College baseball program begins a six-game week with a pair of single games on Wednesday at Bentley and Thursday at American International. The Warriors' matchup with the Falcons will be the first of three Northeast Division tilts between Bentley and Merrimack, with the Navy and Gold serving as the home team tomorrow at DeFelice Field in Waltham. Thursday's game between the Warriors and Yellow Jackets  from Springfield will be a non-conference affair. 

Last Time Out:

• The Warriors suffered a pair of defeats on Saturday afternoon at Franklin Pierce, 5-4 and 11-7. The Navy and Gold dropped the opener after nearly erasing a 5-1 deficit, and pulled within four runs after falling down 11-1 in the nightcap
• Junior Matthew Ronai led Merrimack last week with eight hits in 16 at-bats and a 1.126 OPS. The Warriors' primary designated hitter collected a pair of doubles and knocked in five runs over four games
• In Saturday's first game, junior Daniel Amidon tossed three innings of perfect relief, striking out four Ravens. In the second tilt, junior Riley Sorenson threw a clean eighth inning in his first appearance since the 2015 season

'Mack Facts:

• Ronai saw his average increase to .418 this season, which is currently the second best in the NE10. The junior is one of five players league wide with averages of .400 or better
• Three other Warriors boast averages of .300 or better, with senior Matt Nicholson (.378), graduate student Tyler Lyne (.325) and sophomore Joey Porricelli (.309) joining Ronai
• Porricelli (11) and Lyne (10) lead the team in extra-base hits. The latter is tied for second in the conference with 10 doubles, moving into fifth place in Merrimack history with 39 in his career
• Senior PJ Browne enters the week as the team's leader in ERA (2.10) and strikeouts (33). In his career, Browne has thrown 205.0 innings and recorded 216 Ks, one of just two players with 200 of each in program history

Scouting the Yellow Jackets:

• AIC's first game of the week will be against the Warriors, after winning one of three games in a weekend series at No. 6 New Haven
• Matt Costanza (.353) and Andrew Ciacciarelli (.345) averages lead the Yellow Jackets, and the duo are tied for the team high with 30 base hits each
• Costanza doubles as a pitcher and is the squad's leader with a 1.93 ERA. The sophomore has thrown two complete games in four starts

Recent Series:

• Merrimack played AIC four times last season, winning all four games. The Warriors' pitching staff allowed one run in each of the last three games. Redshirt-junior Garrett Hudson, senior Anthony Lupi and Monagle all recorded victories in those games

Up Next:
The Warriors will host a pair of cross-divisional doubleheaders this weekend, both of which will be played at Saint John's Prep. in Danvers, Mass. On Saturday, Merrimack will play the College of Saint Rose beginning at 12 p.m. and on Sunday the Warriors will return to Saint John's to play Le Moyne with first pitch set for noon.