Links: Box Score (Game 1) |
Box Score (Game 2)
TULSA, Okla.
– The Merrimack College baseball program swept Oral Roberts University – the preseason favorites out of the Summit League – in a doubleheader played at the Golden Eagles' J.L. Johnson Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The victories marked the program's first two of its Division I era. The Warriors improved to 2-1 on the season and will go for the series victory tomorrow afternoon during a 2 p.m. first pitch in Tulsa, Okla.
In the opening game, Merrimack broke a 4-4 deadlock with a two-run eighth inning. Senior
Dylan Stevens notched the win out of the bullpen and sophomore
LT Pare recorded the save. Sophomore
Kurtis Stadnicki had the big base knock, driving in a two-run single to give Merrimack the lead for good. The Warriors' pitching stole the show in the second tilt as sophomore
Cedric Gillette tossed six shutout innings to record the win. Freshman
Justin Butera delivered a three-inning save, scattering a pair of hits to preserve the 4-0 victory.
Graduate student
Cory Wasylow starred over the two games, hitting a combined 4-for-6 with two RBI and two runs scored. In the first game, Wasylow hit a no-doubter of a home run to record the first round-tripper of the program's Division I era.
The Basics
Score (G1): Merrimack 6, Oral Roberts 5
Score (G2): Merrimack 4, Oral Roberts 0
Records: Merrimack (2-1) | Oral Roberts (1-2)
Location: J.L. Johnson Field | Tulsa, Okla. Â Â Â
Rapid Recap (Game 1):
- With the score knotted at 1-1, Merrimack put forth a three-run top of the fourth with all of the scoring coming with two outs. Sophomore Michael Golankiewicz hit a double to extend the inning and graduate student Billy Keegan hit him home with a single to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead. Wasylow dug in and smoked a homer to left field, doubling Merrimack's lead to 4-1
- Graduate student Riley Sorenson took the ball, and worked into the seventh inning. After scattering two runs through four frames, her retired eight of the next nine batters he faced to work into the seventh inning. Stevens relieved him there, however, as a walk, error and single resulted in one run scoring. He limited the damage to one additional run, leaving the game tied (4-4)
- In the eighth, a sacrifice bunt by senior Nick Shumski gave Merrimack runners in scoring position with just one out. Two batters later and with two gone, Stadnicki singled through the left side to plate both freshman Alex Haba and senior Joey Porricelli to create a 6-4 advantage
- Stevens got one out in the bottom of the eighth before Pare came in with the bases loaded. The second-year right-hander induced a grounder to first – that scored one but created the second out – and a fly out to left to maintain a one-run lead
- Pare then worked a perfect ninth, striking out to batters to record his first career save
Rapid Recap (Game 2):
- Gillette was the story in the second game. After working out of a bases-loaded jam in the first, he allowed just one baserunner over the next three innings. In the fifth, he worked around allowing the leadoff batter to reach and then pitched his way out of a two-on-with-no-outs situation in the bottom of the sixth to end his outing unblemished.
- Through six innings, Merrimack pushed across two runs on a first-inning RBI single from Golankiewicz and a sixth-inning sacrifice fly from sophomore Wyatt Villella
- Merrimack scored two insurance markers in the top of the eighth. Junior Michael Jamele hit a leadoff double, and came around to score on a single from Shumski. Golankiewicz drove in his second run of the day later in the inning on a sacrifice fly, creating a 4-0 advantage
- That was all Butera needed. He put down five straight Golden Eagles to begin his outing, and then forced a game-ending double play to close out the bottom of the ninth to record the save
Notes and Notables (Game 1):
- WP – Stevens (1-0) | LP: Rogen (0-1) | S: Pare (1)
- Sorenson's Final Line (ND): 6.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
- Wasylow hit his second career homer to highlight the offensive effort. He joined Stadnicki with multi-RBI games for Merrimack
- Both Wasylow and Porricelli also recorded the team's two multi-hit games
- Golankiewicz's double was the first extra-base hit of Merrimack's DI history
- Stevens notched his first career win
- Pare's outing was the longest of his career after he only made three appearances in 2019. He notched his first career save
Notes and Notables (Game 2)
- WP – Gillette (1-0) | LP – Notary (0-1) | S: Butera (1)
- Gillette's Final Line (W): 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
- Gillette threw a shutout start for the first time in his career. The Andover native made his third career start on Saturday after nine appearances and two starts as a freshman in 2019
- Butera became the first freshman since current graduate student Daniel Amidon  to record a save for Merrimack
- The Warriors' offense hit a season-high three doubles, with Wasylow, Jamele and senior Thomas Joyce hitting one each
Up Next
Merrimack looks to win the series against ORU tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. Â
