Baseball Begins Crucial Five-Game in Four-Day Stretch Thursday at Bentley

Matchup	Merrimack (20-14, 7-5 NE DIV) vs. Bentley (17-15, 7-6 NE DIV) // SNHU (26-12, 12-2 NE DIV)
Date//Time	Thur., Apr. 26 (3:30 p.m.) // Fri, Apr. 27 (6 p.m.) // Sat., Apr. 28 (3 p.m. | 6 p.m.) // Sun., Apr. 29 (1 p.m.)
Venue	DeFelice Field (Thurs.) // SNHU Baseball Field (Fri.) // Holman Stadium (Saturday & Sunday)
Multimedia	Live Stats | Video (Thur.) // Live Stats | Video (Fri.) // Live Stats (Saturday & Sunday)
Social Media	Twitter // Instagram

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Beginning a sprint to the regular season that sees the Warriors play five games over the next four days and 10 games over the final 12, the Merrimack College baseball team travels to Bentley University on Thursday before facing Southern New Hampshire four times this weekend to close out the week. The contest against the Falcons will be at 3:30 p.m., and be the second of the Warriors' and Bentley's three-game divisional series. On Friday night, the Navy and Gold play SNHU in a non-conference game at 6 p.m. in Manchester, N.H. The weekend then concludes with the Warriors' and Penmen's three-game NE10 series, which Merrimack will host on Saturday and Sunday at Holman Stadium in Nashua, N.H.

Senior Day:

• The baseball program will honor its eight seniors prior to Sunday's 1 p.m. first pitch against SNHU. The contest was originally scheduled for a 3 p.m. first pitch, but was moved up to a 1 p.m. start
• The Warriors will recognize seniors Jeremy Blake-Johnson, PJ Browne, Mike Hoalcraft, Garrett Hudson, Matt Nicholson, Joe Westerman, Anthony Lupi and Ricky Smith in a pregame ceremony

Last Time Out:

• Freshman hurler Timmy Kalantzakos threw a career-best eight innings, striking out seven Saint Anselm Hawks in a 7-3 win for Merrimack on Tuesday night
• The first-year right-hander have the Warriors much-needed length given the busy schedule in front of Merrimack. The contest was played at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium and was a non-league tilt
• Nicholson collected his third consecutive three-hit game, and has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 contests
• Graduate student Tyler Lyne drove in two runs and went 2-for-5 at the dish. The fifth-year outfielder hit a double and a triple, moving within one three-bagger of tying the program record (14)

 'Mack Facts:

• Junior outfielder Cory Wasylow was named both NE10 and NCBWA Player of the Week after hitting nearly .600 during Merrimack's 4-0 week. The Taunton, Mass. native entered the week with 13 career hits before an 11-hit outburst that resulted in a team-best 10 RBI, five more than any other Warrior over the four-game stretch
• Entering this week's outing, Browne etched his name into the Merrimack record book over the weekend, striking out his 231^st career batter to become the program's all-time punch out leader. Browne notched his 16^th career win as well, moving within one of tying the program mark. He also ranks third in program lore with 223.1 innings pitched
• As a team, Merrimack's offense brought its team batting average above .300 on the season, hitting at a .301 clip. That mark is the highest among Northeast Division programs and ranks second league wide
• The Navy and Gold are tied for first in the league with 75 doubles
• Individually, Nicholson is third in the NE10 in average (.388) and fifth in RBI (34). Both totals lead the Warriors. Lyne is tied for first in the conference with a career-best 19 stolen bases. Sophomore Joey Porricelli ranks right behind him with 17 swipes. The duo are also tied for second in the NE10 with 12 doubles apiece

Scouting the Falcons:

• Since playing Merrimack last Wednesday, the Falcons won two of three games against Assumption. Most recently, however, the Falcons lost in walk-off fashion to Stonehill, 8-7
• Junior pitcher Luke Dawson mirrored Wasylow by earning both NE10 and NCBWA accolades as Pitcher of the Week. Dawson picked up his team-leading fifth win of the year against Assumption, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning and striking out 11 Greyhounds
• Dawson has recorded at least 10 punch outs in his last three starts. He leads the conference with 80 strikeouts this season
• Offensively, Bentley boasts a .285 team average with four hitters hitting above .300. Junior Brandon Grover and sophomore Ryan Berardino have combined for nine homers and 55 RBI on the year, accounting for half of Bentley's long balls

Scouting the Penmen:

• SNHU completed a three-game sweep of Franklin Pierce on Tuesday and now hold a 3.5-game lead in the Northeast Division
• The Penmen carry a seven-game winning streak into the weekend, which could potentially increase to eight following SNHU's game at Saint Michael's on Thursday
• Offensively, the Penmen's .292 team batting average trails only Merrimack for the division lead. SNHU does lead the Northeast in homers (33) and extra-base hits (109)
• Four Penmen have hit at least four round-trippers this season, led by seven each for senior Caleb Potter and freshman Dakota Mulcay
• Pitching-wise, innings leader Mitchell Powers threw on Tuesday against the Ravens, but could be line to throw on Sunday. Graduate student Shane McDonald leads the staff in strikeouts (78) while classmate Andrew Lalonde's 2.24 ERA is the lowest among the Penmen's regulars in the rotation
• Redshirt-junior Jake Walkinshaw has been one of the top relievers in the NE10, and is currently on a 14.1-scoreless inning streak to start the year

Recent Series:

• Merrimack's one game against this season saw the Warriors scored 18 runs to dismantle the Falcons. Wasylow recorded four hits and knocked in four runs to start his career week
• In the most recent series against the Penmen, the Warriors suffered three losses last year, but two of the three contests were close games
• The Warriors will aim to snap a six-game losing streak to the Penmen this weekend

Up Next:
The Navy and Gold will have one day off on Monday before playing five divisional games over five days to close the regular season. Merrimack ends its series with Bentley and Assumption with games on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, before playing its three-game set with Stonehill on Thursday-Saturday.