SantaBarbara Tosses Complete-Game Five-Hitter While Fanning Seven As Baseball Gains Split Of Northeast-10 Doubleheader With Merrimack By Taking 5-2 Opening Game Decision
April 6, 2005
STONEHILL BASEBALL
Wednesday, April 6, 2005
DeFelice Field, Waltham, Mass.
GAME #1 FINAL: STONEHILL 5, MERRIMACK 2
123 456 789 R H E
Merrimack (2-13, 1-3 Northeast-10) 200 000 000 - 2 5 0
Stonehill (11-6, 5-2 Northeast-10) 000 030 11x - 5 8 1
BATTERIES
MER: Eric Malinowski, Brian DeMasse (6) and Taylor Edler
STO: Nick SantaBarbara and Matt Vaughn
WP: SantaBarbara (4-0) LP: Malinowski (1-4)
GAME #2 FINAL: MERRIMACK 5, STONEHILL 1 (10 INNINGS)
123 456 789 10 R H E
Merrimack (3-13, 2-3 Northeast-10) 000 000 100 4 - 5 8 0
Stonehill (11-7, 5-3 Northeast-10) 000 000 010 0 - 1 5 3
BATTERIES
MER: Nicholas Karthas and Taylor Edler
STO: Joe Breen, Brian Nelson (6) and Tom Aldrich
WP: Karthas (1-1) LP: Nelson (0-1)
WALTHAM, Mass.-- Sophomore Nick SantaBarbara (Middleton, Mass.) tossed a complete-game five hitter and struck out seven for his fourth win of the season as Stonehill gained a split of a Northeast-10 Conference baseball doubleheader with Merrimack on Wednesday afternoon by taking a 5-2 opening game victory in contests played at Bentley College’s DeFelice Field. Merrimack used four runs in the top of the 10th to post a 5-1 triumph in the nightcap.
SantaBarbara allowed a pair of unearned runs and three hits in the top of the first but was masterful over the final eight innings for the Chieftains (11-7, 5-3 Northeast-10), allowing just two hits to remain unbeaten at 4-0 on the spring. Stonehill overcame that two-run deficit with three runs in the fifth, two of which came on passed balls and the third on an RBI single by sophomore Matt Vaughn (Bow, N.H.). The Chieftains tacked on single runs in the seventh and eighth frames to account for the final score, as junior Sean Lawrence (New Rochelle, N.Y.) and sophomore Max Vigliotti (Stamford, Conn.) each rapped out RBI doubles. Vaughn, Lawrence, Vigliotti and freshman Ryan Halloran (Tyngsboro, Mass.) each had two hits in the opening game win for Stonehill to back Santa Barbara’s effort on the mound.
The Warriors (3-13, 2-3 Northeast-10) scored their two runs in the first frame of the opener on an error and an RBI groundout by freshman Ryan Shepard (Andover, Mass.), as sophomore Eric Malinowski (Newington, Conn.) allowed four hits and two earned runs in five innings of work in taking the setback on the mound for Merrimack.
The two teams played scoreless ball into the late innings of the nightcap before Merrimack took a 1-0 lead in the seventh on an RBI single by junior Justin Murphy (South Easton, Mass.), but Stonehill evened matters in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by senior Craig Audette (Raynham, Mass.) that forced extra innings. The Warriors took advantage of a pair of errors in the top of the 10th to plate four unearned runs, as an RBI single by sophomore David Paquette (Medford, N.Y.) and a two-run pinch-hit double by freshman Scott Rafferty (Greenland, N.H.) did the damage in that deciding frame.
Freshman Nick Karthas (Bothell, Wash.) went the distance on the mound to pick up his first collegiate win for Merrimack, as he allowed five hits and struck out seven while joining Paquette in rapping out two hits at the plate for the Warriors. Halloran and junior T.J. Piscatelli (Norfolk, Mass.) each had two hits in the nightcap setback for Stonehill, as junior Brian Nelson (Greenville, R.I.) suffered the loss on the mound for the Chieftains in relief, allowing one earned run while fanning six in 4 1/3 innings of work.
Stonehill travels to Springfield, Mass. on Thursday afternoon to take on American International in a Northeast-10 outing that begins at 3:30 p.m., while Merrimack hosts Saint Anselm in a Northeast-10 contest on Thursday afternoon in North Andover, Mass. that also begins at 3:30 p.m.