| Matchup |
Saint Rose (9-10, 2-2) | #20 Le Moyne (20-6, 6-0) at
Merrimack (9-12, 2-6 NE10) |
| Date//Time |
Saturday, April 7 (12/3 p.m.) | Sunday, April 8 (12/3 p.m.) |
| Venue |
Saint John's Preparatory School (Danvers, Mass.) |
| Multimedia |
Live Stats |
| Social Media |
Twitter // Instagram |
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College baseball program hosts a pair of Northeast-10 Conference doubleheaders this weekend at Saint John's Preparatory School in Danvers, Mass., beginning with the College of Saint Rose on Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m. The Warriors will then return to The Prep on Sunday to take on No. 20 Le Moyne College, which also begins at noon.
Last Time Out:
- Merrimack's offense scored 12 runs and freshman Timmy Kalantzakos threw six innings of four-run ball to record his first collegiate win in the Warriors' 12-4 triumph at AIC
- Sophomore Joey Porricelli scored a career-best four runs and sophomore Thomas Joyce knocked in a season-high three runs. Junior Matthew Ronai and senior Matt Nicholson each recorded RBI triples
- Our of the bullpen, senior Anthony Lupi, redshirt-junior Garrett Hudson and junior Riley Sorenson each posted earned-run free efforts. For Sorenson, it marked his second scoreless effort in as many appearances since returning from last year's season-ending injury
'Mack Facts:
- Ronai maintained his .400-plus average, despite seeing it fall to .408 after one hit yesterday. The Orange, Conn. native entered the week second in the NE10 in batting average
- Three other Warriors boast averages of .300 or better, with senior Matt Nicholson (.385), graduate student Tyler Lyne (.333) and sophomore Joey Porricelli (.320) 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 strikeouts, one of just two players with 200 of each in program history
Scouting the Golden Knights:
- After starting the year with a 9-6 record, Saint Rose has endured a four-game losing skid to fall below .500 (9-10) on the season
- In their only previous cross-divisional action to date, the Golden Knights swept Saint Anselm in a pair of games, including a 4-3 walk-off win in the 11th inning of game two
- Brian Uliana leads the away with 24 hits, but only one has gone for extra bases. Joe Foran's .340 is the best on the team. Despite hitting at .228, Matt McKinnon owns a team-high 15 RBI
- Saint Rose's top-three starters each boast sub-3.00 ERAs. Stephen Hill boasts the most innings pitched (32.1), Greg Musk has the lowest ERA (2.00) and Brandon Budlong's 26 punch outs are the most on the staff
Scouting the Dolphins:
- The nationally ranked Dolphins enter the weekend on a six-game winning streak. Le Moyne plays Assumption for two games before facing Merrimack Sunday
- Not only have the Dolphins won six consecutive, but Le Moyne is 12-1 over its last 13 games
- It remains to be seen if the Warriors will see him on the hill, but junior pitcher Josiah Gray has emerged as one of the top pitchers in the nation. Gray has a 1.33 ERA and 54 strikeouts over 47.1 innings pitched. In seven starts, Gray owns a 6-0 record with opponents hitting just .221 off him
- Not to be ignored, Le Moyne's offense has a .315 team batting average with three hitters eclipsing the 40-hit mark over 26 games. Ben Walsh leads the way with a .406 average
- Andrew Taft's 10 home runs leads the conference by four, and his 32 RBI are second in the league
Recent Series:
- The Warriors have a 4-6 all-time record against Saint Rose. The most recent games between the opponents came in 2016, when the Warriors split a twinbill in Albany
- Merrimack and Le Moyne are set to play their seventh and eighth games in school history on Sunday. The last meetings came in 2014, which saw each team come away with a win in a doubleheader
Up Next:
Merrimack will have two days off before travelling to Assumption for the second divisional game of a three-game set between the Warriors and Greyhounds. First pitch in Worcester, Mass. on Wednesday is set for 3:30 p.m.
