Lidsky tallied his second career multi-homerun game. (Photo Credit Crystal Ayn Hagberg).

NORTH ANOVER, Mass. (May 16, 2024) – The Stonehill College baseball team fell to Merrimack in its Northeast Conference (NEC) series opener, 17-10, Thursday afternoon at the Warriors Baseball Diamond in North Andover, Massachusetts. With the loss, the Skyhawks drop to 18-27 overall and 13-15 in conference play, while the Warriors improve to 28-24 overall and 20-11 against conference opponents.   

HIGHLIGHTS

• Stonehill's offense was fueled by six combined homeruns, with two coming off the bats of senior Blaine Lidsky and redshirt junior Jack Thorbahn.
• Graduate student Conor Kiely and senior Trey Ciulla-Hall each recorded their first and 14th round-trippers of the season, respectively.
• Redshirt sophomore Sam Parks recorded his 31st run batted in of the season after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
• Junior Ryan Douglas (4-7) took the loss after allowing 10 runs on 12 hits over 4.0 innings of work.
• Graduate student Cavan Brady and sophomore Christian Scanlon paved the way for Merrimack's offense, combining for three homeruns and eight RBI.
• Sophomore Frankie Ferrentino also recorded his sixth career multi homerun game for the Warriors. 
• Sophomore Owen Zadrozny (1-1) picked up his first win of the season after striking out a pair in 2.0 innings of relief for Merrimack.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Merrimack came out of the gates strong, jumping to a first-inning seven-run lead. The Warrior's seven-run bottom of the first inning was fueled by a pair of RBI base knocks from graduate student Alex Haba and sophomore Matthew Chatelle, followed by a grand slam off the bat of Scanlon and a solo blast from Brady.

Despite falling behind early, the Skyhawks began to chip away at the seven-run deficit in the top of the second and third innings. A bases-loaded hit by pitch drawn by Parks plated Stonehill's first run of the game in the second before a long ball off the bat of Lidsky in the third cut the gap to 7-2.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, freshman Dawson Bryce would regain the Warrior's seven-run advantage with one swing of the bat, belting a two-run shot over the left field wall. Three batters later, a fielding miscue over to third allowed both Chatelle to reach base and extend the inning with two outs, but it also resulted in a run as Ferrentino was able to race home from third and score Merrimack's 10th run of the contest.

Stonehill would continue to claw its way back into striking distance with four round-trippers in the top of the fifth and sixth innings. Thorbahn started his offensive day in the fifth with a two-run home run, marking his first since the April 21 game against Long Island University. Following a shutdown inning on the mound by senior reliever Joe Castrichini in the bottom half of the fifth, the Skyhawks would go back-to-back-to-back in the sixth to cut the deficit to three.

Kiely kicked off the sixth for Stonehill with his first homerun of the season, before Ciulla-Hall sent the first pitch he saw deep out to left centerfield. Thorbahn capped off the three-homerun inning for the Skyhawks, belting his second in as many innings over the right field fence, bringing the score to 10-7 in favor of Merrimack.

Despite Stonehill's efforts to narrow the gap with three runs in the eighth, including a two-run blast by Lidsky for his second career multi-homerun game, Merrimack's lead proved insurmountable. The Warriors sealed their victory with a final score of 17-10, thanks to four long balls in the sixth and seventh innings.

INSIDE THE BOX & NOTES

Kiely recorded his first long ball of the season to kick off the Skyhawks three homerun inning in the sixth. (Photo Credit Crystal Ayn Hagberg).

• The Skyhawks three-homerun inning in the sixth, marked the first since May 6, 2011, in a 17-7 victory over the College of Saint Rose.
• Stonehill's six round-trippers were the most in a single-game this season and the most in game since the Skyhawk's belted five against Southern Connecticut State back on April 16, 2022. 
• Lidsky and Thorbahn's two homerun games marked the first and second of their individual collegiate careers, respectively.
• Ciulla-Hall and junior Taylor Gaspar each improved their on-base streaks to 28 and 31 games, respectively, while Parks and junior Dylan Zemotel have now each reached base in 20 consecutive games. 
• Senior Jack Marshall is now riding a team-leading 11-game hitting streak.
• Castrichini, sophomore Jack Iannibelli, and freshman Zach Brockner each pitched 1.1 innings of relief for the Skyhawks.

UP NEXT

Stonehill (18-27, 13-15 NEC) faces off in game two of its three-game set against Merrimack on Friday. First pitch between the Skyhawks and Warriors from North Andover, Mass., is set for 11 a.m.

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