Links: Box Score
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Merrimack College baseball team visited Bryant University on Saturday afternoon in Northeast Conference (NEC) play, battling the first-place Bulldogs at Conaty Park in the first game of a three-game set. The hosts claimed a 6-0 victory in the series opener, improving to 20-11-1 (16-3 NEC) on the year. Merrimack dropped to 15-17 (10-9 NEC).
The Basics
Score: Bryant 6,
Merrimack 0
Records: Merrimack (15-17, 10-9 NEC) | Bryant (20-11-1, 16-3 NEC)
Location: Conaty Park | Smithfield, R.I.
Rapid Recap
- Graduate student Nick Shumski hit a two-out double in the top of the first for Merrimack, but was stranded at second base. Senior Vin Zappulla started for the Warriors. He allowed a pair of runs in the bottom of the first, but limited the damage there after escaping a bases-loaded jam with only one out in the frame. Bryant scored once in the bottom of the second as well to hold a 3-0 lead through two innings
- Zappulla kept battling, holding Bryant without a run in the third and fourth innings while stranding four combined Bulldogs during that span. Bryant pushed through in the fifth, however, adding on two more runs to increase its lead to 5-0
- Graduate student Daniel Amidon took over in the sixth. The left-handed reliever relented a single run, but was aided by his defense to end the inning. Shumski thwarted an attempted first-and-third play by the Bulldogs. The Warriors' shortstop caught junior catcher Kurtis Stadnicki's throw down to second, and fired the toss right back to Merrimack's backstop to get Bryant's lead runner out at home and prevent further damage
- Amidon settled in as he did not allow a hit the rest of the game, throwing the final two innings of the game. Merrimack's best chance to score came in the top of the ninth when a leadoff double for junior Michael Golankiewicz and a one-out walk put runners on the corners for the visitors. Bryant ended the game with a double play, however, to close the 6-0 affair
Top Performers // Notes
- WP: Mattison (8-2) | LP: Zappulla (3-4)
- The former Division II rivals played down in Smithfield, R.I. for the first time since April of 2008. Merrimack and Bryant played 64 games at the DII level, and have now faced off four times as Division I and NEC foes
- Shumski went 2-for-4 at the dish, his eighth multi-hit game of the year. He also hit his team-leading ninth double
- Golankiewicz and senior Michael Jamele extended their hitting streaks to five games each
- Zappulla eclipsed 200 career innings pitched on Saturday, becoming the sixth pitcher to do so in school history
Up Next:
The series concludes tomorrow afternoon with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.
