#9 Baseball Splits Sunday Doubleheader with Merrimack

GAME 1 BOX SCORE | GAME 2 BOX SCORE

When and Where: March 3, 2019 – Northborough, Mass. (New England Baseball Complex)
Game 1 Score: Merrimack College 5, Southern New Hampshire University 4 (13 inn.)
Game 2 Score: Southern New Hampshire University 8, Merrimack College 4
Records: SNHU 8-3, Merrimack 1-5

Sophomore Sam Henrie (Middleboro, Mass.) went 2-for-4 and drove in four runs in an 8-4 win in game two, as the ninth-ranked Southern New Hampshire University baseball team halved a doubleheader with Merrimack College on Sunday at the New England Baseball Complex. The Warriors won the first game, 5-4, in 13 innings.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Henrie, who also walked and scored a run in the nightcap, was 3-for-10 with four RBI, a walk and a run scored in the twinbill.
• Redshirt-junior Joshua Goldstein (Haverhill, Mass.) finished the day 3-for-7 with a pair of walks and four runs scored.
• Senior Joshua Zbierski (Stafford Springs, Conn.) was 2-for-5 with a walk and two RBI – doing all of that damage in the victory.
• Junior Jake Coro (Johnston, R.I.) was 3-for-10 with a walk, pair of RBI and two runs scored.

HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 1

• Southern New Hampshire went ahead, 1-0, in the top of the second when sophomore Dakota Mulcay (Goffstown, N.H.) led off with a solo shot.
• Merrimack tied it in the bottom of the third on Nick Shumski's bases-load knock, with Coro hitting his cutoff man to cut down the would-be go-ahead run at the plate.
• The Warriors did go ahead in the fifth, however, with an RBI single from Shumski and run-scoring double off the bat of Thomas Joyce making it 3-1 against redshirt-junior Endy Morales (Holyoke, Mass.).
• The game stayed that way into the ninth when redshirt-senior Kevin Alexy (Newton, Mass.) led off with a base hit, before junior Dylan Faircloth (Cleveland, Texas) followed with a two-run blast that left the score tied, 3-3. Following two quick outs, Goldstein singled, stole second and scored on Coro's double to put the Penmen ahead, 4-3.
• Merrimack would tie it in the home half, however, with Matthew Ronai's two-out single plating Joey Porricelli, who had been hit by a pitch, went to second on a throwing error and advanced to third on a wild pitch.
• Merrimack had a pair in scoring position with one out in the 11^th when sophomore Jeffrey Praml (Bridgewater, N.J.) entered from the bullpen to record a strikeout for out No. 2, before walking Joyce to load the bases and getting a lineout to second to make his way out of the inning.
• In the bottom of the 13^th, redshirt-sophomore Alex Gomes (Peabody, Mass.), who worked a perfect 12^th, retired his fourth- and fifth-in-a-row before Shumski drew a two-out walk. Thomas Crowley then followed with a double and Shumski raced around to score the winning run.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE – GAME 1

• Goldstein was 2-for-5 with a run scored.
• Alexy went 1-for-4 and scored a run.
• Faircloth (home run, walk, two RBI, run), redshirt-junior Sean Doherty (Haverhill, Mass.; walk) and sophomore Idelson Taveras (Lawrence, Mass.) all finished 1-for-5.
• Coro (RBI), Mulcay (home run, RBI, run) and Henrie each went 1-for-6.
• Morales allowed three runs on seven hits, while striking out four and walking two, over six-and-two-thirds innings.
• Graduate student Chris Murphy (Billerica, Mass.) gave up one run on three hits, striking out three and walking one, in two innings of work.
• Senior Hayden Manning (Portland, Conn.) spun an inning-and-two-thirds of scoreless baseball, allowing two hits and striking out a pair.
• Praml pitched two-thirds of a shutout inning, striking out one and walking one.
• Gomes (0-1) relinquished a run on a hit and a walk in an inning-and-two-thirds.

HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 2

• Southern New Hampshire went up, 1-0, in the bottom of the first, with Goldstein getting aboard on a bunt single, moving to second on a passed ball, stealing third and scoring on Henrie's two-out single to left.
• Merrimack tied it in the second when Cory Wasylow came up with a two-out single to right, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored when Anthony Garbarino knocked a single to right-center.
• SNHU put together a big inning in the third, with Goldstein getting hit by a pitch, Doherty singling and Coro drawing a walk to load the bases with one out. A walk to Henrie put the Penmen up, 2-1, before a Faircloth groundout brought in the second run. Zbierski followed with a two-out, two-run single to right that broke open a 5-1 lead.
• Junior Wesley Tobin (Portsmouth, N.H.) cruised into the seventh inning before Porricelli smacked a two-out, three-run homer to left-center that slashed the Merrimack deficit to a single run at 5-4.
• Senior Matthew Messier (No. Troy, Vt.) would get the Penmen out of the seventh, before firing 1-2-3 frames in the eighth and ninth to end it.
• SNHU would tack on three more in the eighth inning, first, however. Goldstein drew a one-out walk, with a Doherty base hit putting runners at the corners. Coro stroked a single to right to plate the first run, and then stole second before Henrie's two-run single gave the Penmen some breathing room at 8-4.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE – GAME 2

• Goldstein was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and three runs scored.
• Doherty turned in a 2-for-5 performance, scoring twice.
• Henrie (walk, four RBI, run), Coro (walk, RBI, two runs), Zbierski (walk, two RBI) and grad student John Stanton (Sandwich, Mass.) were all 2-for-4.
• Tobin (2-1) allowed four runs on six hits, while striking out seven and walking two, in six-and-two-thirds innings.
• Messier twirled two-and-a-third perfect innings, retiring all seven batters he faced.

NOTES

• Southern New Hampshire had its six-game winning streak snapped with the game-one loss.
• Mulcay's home run was his first of the season and the ninth of his career, while Faircloth's third long-ball of the season tied him with Zbierski for the team lead.

UP NEXT

• The Penmen return to action Sunday, March 10 (11 a.m.) when they open their Florida trip against Caldwell University at the Santaluces Sports Complex in Lantana, Fla.

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