Baseball Stumbles in Series Opener vs. Long Island

ANDOVER, MASS. – The Merrimack College baseball team lost game one of the three-game weekend series with Long Island University on Friday afternoon. Christian Gemelli homered in the fourth, to give the Warriors an early advantage. The bomb was his third of the season. Jake Macchi and Michael Golankiewicz also had RBI's for the Warriors. Merrimack starter Wyatt Villella threw five innings and allowed just one hit.

The Basics
Score: Merrimack 3 Long Island 10
Records: Merrimack (10-22-1) | Long Island (24-12)
Location: Andover, Mass. | Greater Lawrence Tech

Rapid Recap

• Villella left a runner stranded on first in the top of the first inning. He struck out one in the inning. Scott Elliott reached on an error in the bottom half of the first, but was left on his base to end the inning. Alex Haba singled in the bottom of the third with one out. Elliott then walked in the next at bat to put two runners on. The Warriors then struck out on back-to-back at bats to keep the game tied a zero. Villella got the Sharks to go down in order in the fourth. Gemelli led off the fourth with a solo home run, giving Merrimack its first lead of the game. Tiernan Lynch then singled for his first hit of the afternoon. Kurtis Stadnicki drew a free pass to put two runners on. Two batters later, Haba walked to load the bases. Unfortunately, the Warriors could not get anyone home in the inning.  
• Long Island added three in the top of the fifth to go up two. Braydon Dolbashian singled in the bottom of the fifth, but was left on first at the end of the inning. The Sharks added four runs in the sixth to go up by six. Stadnicki singled with one down in the bottom half of inning number six. The backstop then advanced to second on a wild pitch. He ended up getting to third, but could not be driven in to score. Gemelli singled in the seventh, but was the only hit of the inning. In the bottom half of the eighth, Ben Nelson singled with two outs in the inning. Haba then singled putting two runners on. Macchi singled home a run for the Warriors. Golankiewicz then singled in the next at bat to add one to the Merrimack run total. Long Island put three on the board in the ninth to win by seven.  

 Top Performers // Notes

WP: Loeschorn (8-1) | LP: Villella (2-4)  

• Haba's hit streak extends to 15 games, which is the highest on the team and is the most games in a row on the season.
• Gemelli earned his third multi hit game of the season.

Up Next:
The Warriors play game three of their series on Saturday afternoon at Lawrence Tech. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.