Late Runs Lead Baseball Past Merrimack, 8-6
Ingui drives home four runs
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Cliff Hicks led off the ninth inning with a solo home run at
Merrimack on Monday afternoon.NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (April 13, 2009)
– Graduate student center fielder Cliff Hicks (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack
HS) and sophomore designated hitter Derek Ingui (Sterling, Mass./Wachusett
Regional) both hit home runs in a four-run ninth inning on
Monday afternoon as the Franklin Pierce University baseball team
tallied an 8-6 road victory over Merrimack in Northeast-10
Conference play at Warrior Baseball Diamond. Senior center fielder
Jeff Bercume (Leicester, Mass./St. John’s Shrewsbury) had
three hits, drove in a pair of runs and scored another in defeat
for Merrimack.
Franklin Pierce opened the scoring with an unearned run in the top
of the first inning. Ingui led off and reached on a throwing error
by the third baseman. He moved to third on a single to left-center
field by freshman catcher Mike
Dowd (East Bridgewater, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) and scored
on a sacrifice fly to center field by junior right fielder Kevin Rivers (Bristol, Conn./Bristol
Eastern).
The Ravens pushed the lead to 4-0 with three runs in the top of
the second inning. Freshman third baseman Ben Benigno (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull)
led off, reached on an error, moved to second on a groundout and
came around to score when junior second baseman Cody Kauffman (Blue Bell, Pa./Univ. of
Massachusetts) reached second base on a throwing error by
the third baseman. Kauffman moved to third on a single to center by
sophomore shortstop Jose Macias
(Bronx, N.Y./Monroe College). Ingui followed and drove in
both runners with a double to right field to cap the inning’s
scoring.
Merrimack got a run back in the bottom half of the second to cut
the lead to 4-1. Sophomore shortstop Mike Dooling (Milford,
Conn./Joseph Foran) led off with a single to right field, moved to
third on a single to left-center by junior second baseman Brendan
Pyburn (Peabody, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) and scored on a sacrifice
fly to left field by sophomore designated hitter Ed Medeiros
(Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk).
The Warriors then drew to within a run at 4-3 as they scored twice
in the bottom of the fourth inning. Bercume led off with a single
to left field, moved to third on a double into the right-center
field gap by junior first baseman Matt Hogan (Andover,
Mass./Andover) and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Pyburn.
Hogan would then score from second on an RBI single to left-center
by Medeiros.
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Derek Ingui went 2-for-5 with a home run and a double, drove in
four runs and scored twice on Monday afternoon at Merrimack.The score remained 4-3 until the
top of the ninth inning, when Franklin Pierce notched four runs to
take an 8-3 lead. Hicks led off the inning with a solo home run,
his second of the season. With one out, senior first baseman Steve Carr (Nahant, Mass./Lake City
CC) doubled into the gap in right-center, stole third and
came into score on the squeeze play as Kauffman laid down a
sacrifice bunt to drive home the run. Macias then reached on an
error by the shortstop and scored when Ingui followed with a
two-run home run, his sixth of the season.
Merrimack rallied but fell short with three runs in the bottom
half of the ninth to create the 8-6 final. Pyburn led off with a
triple to center field. After a walk to Medeiros, Johnson knocked a
single back through the middle to drive home Pyburn and move
Medeiros to second. A passed ball moved the runners to second and
third, where both would score from on a single to right-center by
Bercume. However, as the tying run at the plate, Dooling would
ground out to second base to end the ballgame.
Senior left-hander Alex Szymanski
(Londonderry, N.H./Northern Essex CC) started, threw six
innings and picked up the win (2-1) for Franklin Pierce. He gave up
three runs on six hits, issued no walks, hit a batter and struck
out six. Sophomore right-hander Rob Nicholas (Northboro, Mass./Algonquin
Regional) allowed three runs on four hits, walked two and
struck out one over the final 2.2 innings to notch his fourth save
of the season.
Freshman right-hander Chris Pinette (Norwood, Mass./Norwood)
started and took the loss (2-4) on the hill for Merrimack. In 8.1
innings of work, he surrendered six runs (three earned) on five
hits, walked two and struck out two.
The Ravens (19-13, 10-4 Northeast-10) return to the field on
Tuesday, April 14, when they return home to host Assumption in a
Northeast-10 Conference contest. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30
p.m. at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field in Rindge, N.H.
Merrimack (12-16, 3-11 Northeast-10) returns to action on April 14
at home against Southern Connecticut State.