Baseball Opens Series at Sacred Heart with 4-3 Win

Links: Box Score

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Behind strong pitching for the veteran triumvirate of senior Vin Zappulla, senior Timmy Kalantzakos and graduate student Daniel Amidon, the Merrimack College baseball team defeated Sacred Heart University, 4-3, on Wednesday at Veteran's Memorial Park. The Warriors improved to 6-10 (3-4 NEC) on the year while Sacred Heart dropped to 8-14 (4-3 NEC).

Zappulla posted a quality start, tossing six innings with two earned runs allowed. Kalantzakos threw the seventh and eighth frames, recording five of his six outs by way of the K. Amidon appeared out of the bullpen for the first time this spring, earning the save in the ninth.

Offensively, Merrimack scored three runs in the first inning and held the lead for the remainder of the game. Four different players knocked in runs for Merrimack, including a two-out RBI double for graduate student Thomas Joyce to end the scoring in the first frame. Freshman Bryant Skurbe's sacrifice fly in the seventh inning scored what proved to be the game-winning run.

The Basics
Score: Merrimack 4, Sacred Heart 3
Records: Merrimack (6-10, 3-4 NEC) | Sacred Heart (8-14, 4-3 NEC)
Location: Bridgeport, Conn. | Veteran's Memorial Park

Rapid Recap

• Sophomore Alex Haba drew a one-out walk – his first of four on the day – to start the action for Merrimack in the first. He stole second and then raced home on a run-scoring single by graduate student Nick Shumski for Merrimack's first run. A RBI fielder's choice accounted for the team's second tally, and with two outs, Joyce hit a double into the right-center gap that plated junior Kurtis Stadnicki
• Zappulla started his outing with two outs, but three singles and a hit batsmen allowed the Pioneers to score a pair of runs. After the first inning, Merrimack owned a 3-2 lead
• The right-hander settled in from there, retiring eight straight hitters as he put up zeros in innings No. 2-4. The Warriors placed a runner in scoring position in the second-fourth innings offensively, but could not score
• After a clean bottom of the fifth inning, Zappulla escaped some trouble in the sixth. The Staten Island, N.Y. native allowed a pair of one-out singles that put two runners on for the hosts, but Zappulla buckled down to strand the pair and keep Merrimack ahead by one
• Graduate student Joey Porricelli stood at third and Haba manned second base with one out in the top of the seventh when freshman Bryant Skurbe dug into the box. The rookie deposited a sacrifice fly into center field, providing Merrimack with its fourth run of the day
• Kalantzakos relieved Zappulla in the seventh, striking out a pair in eighth. He punched out three Pioneers in the eighth, working around a single and a walk. Amidon took over in the bottom of the ninth, allowing one run. The lefty shut the door, however, stranding the potential tying run at third to end the game

Top Performers // Notes

• WP: Zappulla (2-2) | LP: Thompson (0-3) | S: Amidon (1)
• Zappulla tossed his 14^th career quality start and second at the Division I level. Thursday was the right-hander's 30^th career start
• Amidon recorded his second career save and first since 2016.
• Porricelli hit a double, the 40^th of his career. He is the seventh player in school history with at least 40 career doubles
• Haba's four walks were the most drawn by a Warrior since Mike Forgione '16 did so in May of 2016

Up Next:
The Warriors and Pioneers resume their three-game series tomorrow at 1 p.m.