When and Where: March 1, 2019 – Northborough, Mass. (New England Baseball Complex)
Score: Southern New Hampshire University 6, Merrimack College 5 (11 inn.)
Records: SNHU 7-2, Merrimack 0-4

Junior Jake Coro (Johnston, R.I.) went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI and laid down what would be a walk-off bunt in the 11^th inning, as the ninth-ranked Southern New Hampshire University baseball team pulled out a 6-5 win against Merrimack College on Friday night at the New England Baseball Complex.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Coro also scored a run.
• Redshirt-junior Joshua Goldstein (Haverhill, Mass.) reached base four times, going 0-for-1 with a walk and three hit-by-pitches, while scoring twice.
• Sophomore Idelson Taveras (Lawrence, Mass.) went 0-for-2, but walked and reached on an error to score a pair of runs.
• Graduate student Jake Walkinshaw (Seymour, Conn.) allowed four runs on seven hits, while striking out four and walking one in six-and-a-third innings.
• Sophomore Jeffrey Praml (Bridgewater, N.J.) gave up one run on two hits over three innings of work, striking out five and not issuing a walk.
• Redshirt-junior Brendan Welch (Easton, Mass.) earned the win with one-and-two-thirds scoreless innings, relinquishing a pair of hits and striking out two.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Southern New Hampshire went ahead, 1-0, in the bottom of the second when senior Joshua Zbierski (Stafford Springs, Conn.), advanced to third on a fly out and scored after grad student John Stanton (Sandwich, Mass.) was hit by a pitch and stayed alive in a run-down to allow the run to cross the plate.
• Merrimack reached Walkinshaw in the top of the fourth, with a Kurtis Stadnicki RBI single and Michael Golankiewicz sacrifice fly to left putting the Warriors in front, 2-1.
• SNHU would pull even in the fifth, as Goldstein was hit by a pitch with two outs, moved to second on a wild pitch and was plated on an RBI single up the middle from Coro.
• The Warriors again went in front in the seventh, as Joey Porricelli laced a two-run double to left that made it 4-2 and knocked Walkinshaw from the game. Praml would record back-to-back punchouts to get out of the frame.
• The Penmen struck for three in the home half, with Taveras reaching on an error and Goldstein drawing a walk, before Coro's base hit up the middle cut the deficit to one. After a walk to redshirt-junior Sean Doherty (Haverhill, Mass.) that loaded the bases, sophomore Sam Henrie (Middleboro, Mass.) grounded into a fielder's choice that tied the game. Henrie would get hung up in a rundown, allowing Coro to score from third with the go-ahead run.
• Thomas Joyce made it 5-5 in the eighth, taking the first pitch of the inning deep to right-center.
• SNHU threatened in the 10^th, with singles from Doherty and junior Dylan Faircloth (Cleveland, Texas), followed by a wild pitch, putting a pair in scoring position with one out. After a strikeout, junior Tom Blandini (Bow, N.H.) entered as a pinch hitter and was intentionally walked to load the bases. The move worked, as Merrimack recorded a strikeout to slip out of the jam.
• In the bottom of the 11^th, Taveras led off with a walk and Goldstein was again hit by a pitch. Coro followed by putting down a sac bunt, but the Merrimack pitcher threw the ball away, allowing Taveras to come around to score the winning run.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Zbierski (run), Doherty (walk) and Faircloth were all 1-for-4.
• Henrie (RBI) and fellow sophomore Dakota Mulcay (Goffstown, N.H.) each finished 1-for-5.

NOTES

• Southern New Hampshire has won six straight and improves to 7-2 for the second straight season.
• This was the first meeting between the two teams since Merrimack knocked SNHU from the Northeast-10 Championship last season.

UP NEXT

• The Penmen return to action Sunday, March 3 when they take on Merrimack in doubleheader action that begins at 2 p.m. from the New England Baseball Complex.

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