BASEBALL DEFEATS MERRIMACK 4-1
PLEASANTVILLE, NY - The Pace University baseball team, behind a solid performance from starting pitcher junior Zach Dayton (North Falmouth, MA/Falmouth), defeated the Warriors of Merrimack College by the score of 4-1 in Northeast-10 Conference action this afternoon at Finnerty Field. With the win, the Setters improve to 22-12 on the season and 12-3 in the NE-10, while the Warriors fall to 12-17 overall, 9-8 in conference play.
Dayton (3-1) had a solid outing on the mound for Pace as he tossed seven strong innings, allowing just one run on five hits, while striking out three. His counterpart sophomore Ryan O'Rourke (Worcester. MA) (3-4) pitched all eight innings, allowing four runs on 11 hits and walking three, to go along with eight strikeouts.
Scoreless through the first three innings of play, the Warriors got on the board first in the top of the fourth as junior Jeff Bercume (Leicester, MA) came in to score on a grounder by classmate Bob McCarthy (Chelmsford, MA). Merrimack loaded the bases to begin the inning, but was able to plate just that one run, as Dayton would go on to induce the inning ending double play.
The Setters would answer quickly in their bottom half of the fourth, as senior Chris Brown's (West Kingston, RI/South Kingston) two-run homerun over the left field wall brought home classmate Matt Rigoli (Parsippany, NJ/Parsippany), putting Pace on top 2-1. The Setters would add their third run in the very next inning as junior transfer Joe Cotone's (Yorktown Heights, NY/UMass/Lakeland) RBI single to left brought in senior Joe Barracato (Westbury, NY/W.T. Clarke). Pace would later add one final insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on Brian Kraminitz's (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater Raritan Regional) RBI single to left that brought home Brown.
Sophomores Frank Luongo (West Harrison, NY/Harrison) and MacKenzie King (Blairstown, NJ/North Warren Regional) were solid out of the pen as each tossed an inning of relief to finish off the Warriors. Luongo was able to get out of a jam in the eighth as Merrimack threatened with runners on second and third, while King struck out of pair in a perfect ninth.
Sophomore Brendan Pyburn (Peabody, MA) had a solid day at the plate for Merrimack going 3-for-4. Rigoli, Brown, Cotone, Kraminitz and senior Jack Cawley (Bronx, NY/Iona Prep) all had multi-hit games for Pace as the Setters pounded out 11 hits on the day.
Pace will be back in action tomorrow, Wednesday, April
16th, as the Setters will play host to the Ravens of
Franklin Pierce University (25-7/10-5 NE-10) in a pivotal
Northeast-10 Conference match-up. The Ravens, a perennial national
and regional powerhouse, are ranked in four different national
polls, as they are #8 in the pingbaseball.com DII Poll, #11 in the
NCBWA Division II National Poll, #16 in the Collegiate Baseball
Magazine NCAA Division II Poll and #1 in the NCBWA DII Northeast
Regional Poll. Pace is currently receiving votes in the NCBWA DII
National Poll, while ranking third in the NCBWA DII Northeast
Regional Poll. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Finnerty
Field on the Pleasantville campus of Pace University.
