Bercume Hits Two Homers, but Baseball Swept by Stonehill
EASTON, MA – Jeff Bercume hit a pair of
homers in the first game and had four hits in the doubleheader, but
the Merrimack baseball team dropped a pair of games to Stonehill,
11-6 and 5-2 on Sunday.
Bercume is now one hit shy of becoming the second player in
program history to reach 200 career hits. He is hitting .457 with
three homers, 21 RBIs, and nine steals this season.
In the first game, Bercume hit a two-run homer in the third to tie
the game, and another two-run bomb in the seventh which gave his
team the 6-5 lead at the time.
But the Skyhawks recovered, tying the game with a run in their
half of the seventh and adding five in the eighth to grab the 11-6
win. Of the five runs in the eighth, only one was earned.
Scott Hackett led the way for Stonehill with two hits, two runs,
and three RBIs, while Angelo Bruno tallied three hits, two runs,
and two RBIs. Dan Corrigan got the win in relief with 2.1 innings
of scoreless ball.
Ryan McNeill took the loss for Merrimack, falling
to 2-1 on the season. The right-hander allowed four runs, but just
one earned, in one inning of relief. Merrimack starter
Dylan Ellis allowed six runs in six innings while
striking out six.
In the second game, the Warriors struck first getting two in the
second on a two-run single from Tim Curran, which
plated Bercume and Matt Cataldo.
But the Skyhawks got four in the fourth off Warrior starter
James Haughney, taking advantage of two Merrimack
fielding errors, which resulted in two unearned runs. They tacked
on one in the seventh on an RBI single from Nate Weber.
Haughney (0-3) went the distance, allowing five runs (three
earned) in eight innings while striking out four.
Justin Perry got the win for Stonehill, allowing two runs in 6.2
innings, while striking out seven. Shane Penzone earned the save,
with 2.1 innings of shutout pitching, while striking out four.
In the second game, Curran and Bercume accounted for four of the
Warriors’ six hits.
Merrimack (10-12, 1-7 NE-10) concludes its series with Stonehill
Monday at 3:30 p.m. at Warrior Field, weather pending.
