Baseball Awaits Midweek Trips to Bentley, AIC

Matchup	Merrimack (14-12, 4-1 NE Div.) at Bentley (9-16, 3-2 NE Div.) // American Int'l (11-14)
Dates//Times	Wed., April 10, 3:30 pm // Thurs., April 11, 3:30 pm
Venue (Wed.)	DeFelice Field | Waltham, Mass.
Venue (Thurs.)	Bedard Field | Springfield, Mass.
Gameday Links	Live Stats (Wed.) // Watch (Wed.) | Live Stats (Thurs.)
Social Media	Twitter // Instagram

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College baseball program will look to increase its modest two-game winning streak when the Warriors play a pair of midweek games at Bentley (Wednesday) and American International College (Thursday). The first contest against the Falcons will be the second divisional game between Merrimack and Bentley, and will be played at DeFelice Field on Bentley's campus with the Warriors serving as the "home" team and batting second. Merrimack will then make a return trip to AIC to face the Yellow Jackets at Bedard Field on Thursday. Both contests are set for a 3:30 p.m. first pitch.  

Five Things to Know:

• Merrimack bounced back on Sunday afternoon by winning a pair of Northeast-10 Conference games, 9-1 and 3-2, Sunday against the Yellow Jackets in Springfield. The Warriors' nine-run outburst in the opener featured four players knocking in two runs each and junior Thomas Joyce reaching base four times over five plate appearances. The second contest saw sophomore Timmy Kalantzakos throw his team-best sixth quality start of the year, posting season-high tying totals of eight innings and eight strikeouts
• Senior Matthew Ronai is knocking the door of a pair of milestones entering the week. The Preseason All-Region performer needs one RBI to become the 10^th player in school history with 100 and needs 16 hits to join the exclusive 200-hit club, which had five members entering the 2019 season
• Junior Joey Porricelli has emerged as the team's top offensive player. The third baseman leads the team in most offensive categories including average (.321), OPS (.952), hits (35), runs (28), total bases (61), extra-base hits (14) and steals (18). Across the NE10, Porricelli is tied for the league lead in runs and ranks third or tied for third in total bases, steals and extra-base hits
• On the mound, the trio of Kalantzakos, senior Cam Monagle and sophomore Vin Zappulla have led Merrimack's rotation. All of three of the right-handed hurlers rank among the top 10 in the NE10 in ERA; Monagle's team-leading 1.64 ERA ranks fourth in the NE10 while Kalantzakos (2.00) and Zappulla (2.20) rank eighth and ninth, respectively. The sophomore tandem of Kalanzakos and Zappulla have each thrown 45.0 innings this year, tied for seventh most in the league
• Senior captain Riley Sorenson has anchored the back end of Merrimack's bullpen, recording all four of the team's saves this season to rank in a tie for third in the league. Sorenson has only relented 10 hits over 17.2 innings and punched out 13 opponents

Scouting the Opposition (Bentley):

Merrimack (14-12, 4-1 NE Div.)	Stat Category	Bentley (9-16, 3-2 NE Div.)
.254	Batting Average	.250
.341	On-Base Percentage	.322
.347	Slugging Percentage	.348
4.47	Team ERA	5.91
178	Team Strikeouts	193
47	Total Stolen Bases	21
.971	Team Fielding Percentage	.967
Joey Porricelli (.321)	Batting Average Leader	Ryan Berardino (.333)
Porricelli (4)	Home Runs Leader	Luke Figueira (6)
Nick Shumski (22)	RBI Leader	Brandon Grover (23)
Cam Monagle (1.64)	ERA Leader (Individual)	Will Rossiter (3.24)
Vin Zappulla (32)	Strikeouts Leader	Rossiter (31)

Scouting the Opposition (AIC):

Merrimack (14-12, 4-1 NE Div.)	Stat Category	American Int'l (11-14)
.254	Batting Average	.243
.341	On-Base Percentage	.351
.347	Slugging Percentage	.326
4.47	Team ERA	5.64
178	Team Strikeouts	150
47	Total Stolen Bases	63
.971	Team Fielding Percentage	.947
Joey Porricelli (.321)	Batting Average Leader	Josh Aviles (.313)
Porricelli (4)	Home Runs Leader	Two Tied (2)
Nick Shumski (22)	RBI Leader	Andrew Ciacciarelli (20)
Cam Monagle (1.64)	ERA Leader (Individual)	Joe Kemlage (3.54)
Vin Zappulla (32)	Strikeouts Leader	Kemlage(35)

Up Next:
The Warriors visit Saint Anselm College this weekend for the teams' three-game divisional set beginning with a doubleheader at Sullivan Field in Manchester, N.H. on Saturday at 12 p.m. The local rivals will reconvene on Sunday afternoon for a single game also beginning at 12 p.m.