Junior righthander Alex McCormick struck out ten with no walks over eight innings today.

Merrimack Edges Stonehill, 2-1

Warriors pitching hold Skyhawks to unearned run, six hits, for 4^th -straight win

Boxscore

EASTON, Mass. (March 24, 2010) – Four Merrimack College pitchers held Stonehill College to just an unearned run and six hits in posting a 2-1 victory in non-conference baseball action at Lou Gorman Field this afternoon.

Freshman righthander Joe Mantoni (Hopedale, Mass./Hopedale) earned the win (1-0) in his first collegiate start, allowing just the one unearned run on four hits with three strikeouts and four walks over six innings. Senior lefthander Ryan O'Rourke (Worcester, Mass./St. John's Shrewsbury) closed out the Warriors fourth-straight win with a scoreless ninth, yielding a hit with one strikeout to collect his first save of the year.

Junior Mike Dooling (Milford, Conn./Joseph Foran) led the Merrimack offense, hitting 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored. Sophomore Tim Curran (South Weymouth, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) was also 2-for-4 with an RBI, while senior Brendan Pyburn (Peabody, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) finished 3-for-5 with a stolen base and run scored.

Junior Brenden Shepard was 2-for-4 at the plate for Stonehill with a double and RBI.

Junior Brenden Shepard (Boxford, Mass./Masconomet) led Stonehill at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and RBI. Senior Ryan Healey (Lynn, Mass./Lynn English) hit 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, while classmate Shane Franz (Cazenovia, N.Y./Cazenovia) batted 1-for-4 with a double and run scored.

Junior righthander Alex McCormick (Weymouth, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) pitched well in defeat for the Skyhawks (1-2), allowing the two earned runs on 11 hits with a season-high ten strikeouts and no walks over eight innings. With McCormick's walk-free outing, Stonehill starters have not issued a walk over the last 46.2 innings.

Stonehill scored its lone run to open the scoring in the second inning. Franz led off with a double to left center, advancing to third on an error on the relay throw back in. Shepard drove him in with a one-out single through the left side.

Merrimack scored both of its runs to take the lead for good in the fourth. Pyburn led off with a single and later scored on a two-out single to right by Dooling, advancing to second on the throw home. Curran followed with an RBI single up the middle to score Dooling from second.

Stonehill threatened in the eighth and ninth, but couldn't tie the score. The Skyhawks left two runners on in the eighth and got a two-out double by Shepard in the ninth, but stranded the tying run in scoring position both innings.

Stonehill (7-6, 3-0 NE-10) is back in action on Friday when it is scheduled for a non-conference doubleheader at Gorman Field starting at 1 p.m. Merrimack (4-1, 2-0 NE-10) visits Assumption College for a non-conference contest tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.