Baseball Continues to Club Homers, Downs Stonehill, 9-6

Links: Box Score

EASTON, Mass.  – Graduate student Tyler Lyne  and sophomore Thomas Joyce each hit big flies on Friday afternoon at Stonehill to lead the Merrimack College baseball program to a 9-6 series-clinching victory over the Skyhawks from Lou Gorman Field. The Navy and Gold now have five homers over their last two games, and will now go for the series sweep in tomorrow's regular season finale at 1 p.m.

The Basics
Score: Merrimack 9, Stonehill 6
Records: Merrimack (26-17, 18-10 NE10, 13-7 NE DIV)
Records: Stonehill (16-21-1, 9-15-1 NE10, 8-11-1 NE DIV)
Location: Lou Gorman Field | Easton, Mass.

NE10 Championship Outlook:
The top-four programs in the Northeast Division standings will advance to the NE10 Championship, which begins with the first round one week from Tuesday. With the win, Merrimack is locked into third place in the Northeast Division and will play Franklin Pierce in the opening round of the NE10 Championship on Tuesday, May 8, at 6 p.m. in Rindge, N.H.

1. SNHU – 17-3 NE DIV
2. Franklin Pierce – 16-5 NE DIV
3. Merrimack – 13-7 NE DIV
4. Bentley – 9-11 NE DIV
5. Assumption– 8-11-1 NE DIV
6. Stonehill – 8-11-1 NE DIV
7. Saint Anselm – 5-15 NE DIV
8. Saint Michael's – 4-17 NE DIV

Rapid Recap

• Despite a run in the bottom of the first from Stonehill, Merrimack's offense immediately got the Warriors back in front. Junior Anthony Garbarino knocked in senior Mike Hoalcraft on a safety squeeze in the second, and then the Warriors scored twice on a RBI single by junior Matthew Ronai and a sac fly from sophomore Thomas Joyce in the third to build a 3-1 lead
• Merrimack's propensity for the long ball in Easton continued in the fourth. Lyne drove his first homer of the season to left field, knocking in a pair of runs to stake Merrimack to a 5-1 advantage. After Stonehill pulled within one after a three-run jack in the bottom half, Joyce drove a solo shot of his own out of Gorman Field to increase the Warriors' lead to 6-4
• Three more runs came across for the visitors in the sixth. Sophomore Nick Shumski led the inning off with a double, and scored a base hit from Lyne. With two outs and runners on second and third, Joyce chopped a single up the middle to drive in both and created a five-run gap (9-4) between the Warriors and Skyhawks
• Stonehill tacked on one run each in the seventh and eighth off starter Garrett Hudson to make it a 9-6 margin entering the bottom of the ninth. Junior Trevor Cooley came on in relief and recorded his second save in as many outings, retiring three of the four Skyhawks he faced in the ninth

Notes and Notables:

• WP: Hudson (2-0) | LP: Brooks (5-3) | S: Cooley (2)
• Hudson's Final Line (W): 8.0 IP, 12 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
• Lyne posted a dominant performance at the dish, going 3-for-5, totaling three RBI, three runs scored and falling a triple short of the cycle. The Agawam, Mass. native now leads Merrimack with 22 multi-hit games this season
• Joyce led the team with four RBI as his career year continued. The Newton native has career bests in hits (47), RBI (29), runs (29) and homers (3)
• Lyne became the ninth different Warrior to hit a home run in 2018, which is the most players the program has had hit a long ball in 15 years
• Cooley threw his fifth consecutive scoreless outing out of the bullpen, which has spanned 6.2 innings of work. He has seen his season ERA drop by nearly six runs during that span

Up Next
The Navy and Gold play in their regular season finale tomorrow afternoon, back at Lou Gorman Field for a 1 p.m. first pitch against Stonehill.