Baseball Stumbles in Series Finale at Stonehill, 9-6

Links: Box Score

EASTON, Mass.  – The Merrimack College baseball program lost its series finale at Stonehill, 9-6, on Saturday afternoon at Lou Gorman Stadium. The Warriors claimed the series by winning the first two games, and now will begin preparations for their NE10 Championship opener on Tuesday night when the Navy and Gold travel to Franklin Pierce to play the Ravens in the opening round from Rindge, N.H.

The Basics
Score: Stonehill 9, Merrimack 6
Records: Merrimack (26-18, 18-11 NE10, 13-8 NE DIV)
Records: Stonehill (17-21-1, 10-15-1 NE10, 9-11-1 NE DIV)
Location: Lou Gorman Field | Easton, Mass.

NE10 Championship Outlook:
The top-four programs in the Northeast Division standings will advance to the NE10 Championship, which begins with the first round one week from Tuesday. Merrimack finished in third place in the Northeast, and now looks ahead to its first-round game against Franklin Pierce on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. in Rindge, N.H.

1. SNHU – 18-3 NE DIV
2. Franklin Pierce – 16-5 NE DIV
3. Merrimack – 13-8 NE DIV
4. Bentley – 10-11 NE DIV

Rapid Recap

• Through three innings, each team was able to push across one run. The Skyhawks scored on a RBI double in the bottom of the first, but sophomore Joey Porricelli knocked in junior Anthony Garbarino in the top of the third with a two-out single to even the score
• Stonehill answered in the bottom of the third to take a 2-1 advantage, but freshman Timmy Kalantzakos kept the hosts off the scoreboard over their next two at-bats. Merrimack scored once each in the fifth and sixth to open a 3-2 lead, as an error by Stonehill's right fielder allowed senior Ricky Smith to tie the game and senior Matt Nicholson hit a run-scoring groundout in the sixth to put the visitors in front
• The Skyhawks chased Kalantzakos in the bottom of the sixth. Three errors in the field enabled Stonehill to score five times, featuring a pair of RBI singles. Stonehill held a 7-3 lead through six frames
• The Warriors cut their deficit in half immediately by scoring twice in the seventh. Senior Mike Hoalcraft led off by being hit by a pitch and scored on a base hit by Garbarino. With two outs and runners in scoring position, graduate student Tyler Lyne legged out an infield single to allow sophomore Nick Shumski to score
• Each team scored once more to create the 9-6 final score. The Warriors went quietly in the ninth, only sending three hitters to the plate

Notes and Notables:

• WP: DeFalco (1-0) | LP: Kalantzakos (2-1) | S: Klingensmith (7)
• Eight of Merrimack's nine hits came from three different players. Lyne and Garbarino tied for a team-best three base knocks, while Porricelli also collected a multi-hit effort
• Lyne and Porricelli each swiped two bases to maintain the top two spots of the NE10 leaderboard to conclude the regular season. The former leads the league with 26 steals followed by the latter with 24
• Garbarino notched the third multi-hit game of his career, all of which have come this season
• Merrimack ends its regular season with 26 victories, the sixth season with at least 25 wins in program history (1994, 1995, 1996, 2013, 2016)

Up Next
Merrimack now preps for its fourth straight NE10 Championship, which will see the Warriors travel to Franklin Pierce for an opening-round game at 6 p.m. in Rindge, N.H.