FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2013
WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The four-team, double-elimination portion of the 2013 Northeast-10 Conference Baseball Championship got underway Thursday afternoon with a pair of games in the greater New Haven area.
In a game played on the campus of Southern Connecticut State University, third-seeded Le Moyne College knocked off fourth-seeded Merrimack College, 8-0, while top-seeded University of New Haven walked off with a 4-3 win in 11 innings over second-seeded Bentley University at New Haven.
Merrimack and Bentley will now square off Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. in an elimination contest at New Haven's Frank Vieira Field.
To follow, Le Moyne will take on New Haven Friday at approximately 12:30 p.m. The loser of that contest will then take on the winner of the Merrimack-Bentley contest followed by another elimination game at approximately 3:00 p.m.
#1 SW New Haven 4, #2 NE Bentley 3 (11) – BOX
New Haven walked off with a 4-3 victory in 11 innings on Thursday after a pair of Bentley errors in the final frame did in the Falcons.
Bentley starter JP Ashline, who was on for his 11th inning of work, retired the first two before New Haven third baseman Brendon Buckley reached and took second on a throwing error. Buckley then scored the winning run when the next hitter, shortstop Stephen Clout, reached on a throwing error by Falcons shortstop Will Brennan.
Chargers closer Peter Jay retired the nine hitters he faced in three perfect innings of relief to record the win. He struck out five.
Ashline was the tough-luck loser after allowing four runs – three earned – on seven hits with eight strikeouts over 10.2 innings of work. The senior righthander even withstood a rain delay that eclipsed two hours.
Bentley owned a 3-2 lead as New Haven took the field for the top of the sixth, but lightning and rain led to a delay, one that lasted 2:05 before the two teams were able to resume. Ashline remained in the game, tossing 5.2 more innings even despite the long layoff.
Ashline however was touched for the tying run in the eighth, as an Andrew Johnson infield single with two outs made it 3-3. The at-bat prior, New Haven leftfielder Kyle Cullen struck out but reached first on a wild pitch, but Bentley catcher Kevin Korwek flipped to a covering Ashline to nail Joe Romanelli at the plate.
In the bottom half of the 10th, New Haven centerfielder Brendan O'Reilly led off with a single and took second on a sac bunt, and Ashline followed by intentionally walking Chris DeMorais two put two on with one out. But Ashline got Cullen to fly out weakly to right before retiring Johnson on a groundout to escape the jam.
Immediately following the delay, New Haven's Frank Vilacha came on in relief of starter Henry Hirsch to toss three hitless innings with a pair of strikeouts. Hirsch had gone 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits.
O'Reilly had a three-hit game for the Chargers, while seven Falcons had one hit apiece.
Korwek put the Falcons on the board first with a first-inning RBI single, only for New Haven to tie it up in the bottom half on an RBI single by Cullen.
Bentley made it 2-1 in the second after Sean Keady singled in a run, although the Chargers struck right back in the third to tie things up following a successful double steal, including a theft of home by Clout.
The Falcons took a 3-2 lead in the fifth when a Brennan single plated Keady, who had walked earlier in the frame.
#3 SW Le Moyne 8, #4 NE Merrimack 0 – BOX
Le Moyne starting pitcher Kevin Carroll threw a five-hit shutout in Thursday's blanking of the Warriors, as the righthander struck out six while walking two.
Carroll moved to 5-2 on the mound with the win.
Third baseman Zack Wiley went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored for the Dolphins, while designated hitter and leadoff Matthew Ciriaco was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs. Catcher Brian Stinson and second baseman Vincent Redmond had two hits apiece, and centerfielder Pat Wiese drove in a pair.
The Dolphins scored three times in the third inning, as Stinson plated Nate Reynolds with a double after Reynolds walked, and Stinson later scored on an error. Ciriaco also singled, took second on a wild pitch and reached third on a fielder's choice before scoring on a Ryan Mahoney sac fly.
Le Moyne added two more in the fourth on a two-run single by Wiley. Then in the eighth, Wiese singled in two more, with a third run scoring on the play on an error.
Merrimack starter Tim Cashman allowed five runs – four earned – over four innings to take the loss for the Warriors.
The Northeast-10 is an association of 16 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that are committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 6,000 student-athletes. Each year, 4,000 of those student-athletes compete in Conference championships in 23 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
2013 Northeast-10 Baseball Schedule/Results
Tuesday, May 7 - First Round | RECAP
Game 1: #4 NE Merrimack 4, #1 NE Franklin Pierce 1 | BOX
Game 2: #2 NE Bentley 3, #3 NE So. New Hampshire 2 | BOX
Game 3: #1 SW New Haven 5,#4 SW Adelphi 0 | BOX
Game 4: #3 SW Le Moyne 7, #2 SW Pace 4 | BOX
Championship Weekend (hosted by New Haven)
Thursday, May 9
Game 5: #1 SW New Haven 4, #2 NE Bentley 3 (11) | BOX
Game 6: #3 SW Le Moyne 8, #4 NE Merrimack 0 | BOX
Game 7: #2 NE Bentley vs. #4 NE Merrimack – 10:00 a.m.
Game 8: #1 SW New Haven vs. #3 SW Le Moyne – 12:30 p.m.*
Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 loser – 3:00 p.m.*
Saturday, May 11
Game 10: Game 9 winner vs. Game 8 winner – 11:00 a.m.
Game 11: If Necessary – 35 mins following completion of Game 10
* Games will be played at the posted start time or 35 minutes after the game before, whichever is later.
- #NE10 -
