N. ANDOVER, MASS. – The Saint Anselm baseball team took on the Warriors of Merrimack College this afternoon for a Sunday doubleheader at Warrior Diamond.  The Hawks took care of game one, downing the Warriors 10-8, before falling in the non-conference game two, 5-4.  The Hawks are now 8-19 (6-9 NE-10), and the Warriors are 11-10 (6-8 NE-10).

The Hawks return to action tomorrow afternoon, when they take on the Falcons of Bentley University in a makeup of the non-conference matchup originally scheduled for March 30th.  The Hawks will face the Falcons in Waltham, Mass., at 3:30 pm.

Game 1 (Northeast-10): Saint Anselm 10, Merrimack 8
TJ Murphy (Reading, Mass.) got the ball rolling in the top of the first inning with a one-out single to shortstop.  After Matt Stone (West Roxbury, Mass.) lined out to second, Matt Sucharewicz (Peabody, Mass.) drove in the first run of the game with an RBI double to right-center.

The Warriors stranded Brendan Pyburn on second in the bottom of the first, but after the Hawks went down 1-2-3 in the top of the second, Tim Curran led off the bottom half of the inning with a double down the left-field line.  Mike Dooling then hit a single through the left side and advanced to second on the throw to the plate that held Curran at third.  Hawk starter Myke Fortier (Andover, Mass.) struck out Ray Walker for the first out of the inning, but Ed Medeiros then tied the game at one with an RBI ground out to second.

Steven Panza (Watertown, Mass.) led off the top of the third with a single to left-center.  Mike Garczynski (Fort Myers, Fla.) made it second and third with a double to left and TJ Murphy put the Hawks back in front with an RBI ground out to second.

PJ Farnham led off the bottom of the third with a walk.  Paul Manganiello moved him to second with a sacrifice bunt, so Fortier intentionally walked Pyburn to regain the force out.  Matt Hogan grounded to third baseman Daniel DeCoste (Chelmsford, Mass.), who stepped on third to force out Farnham for the second out of the inning, and Fortier then stranded the remaining two runners, drawing a ground out from Curran.

Mike Dooling led off the bottom of the fourth inning with another leadoff walk and then got to second on a muffed pickoff attempt.  Walker put him on third with a sacrifice bunt, and Medeiros picked up his second game-tying RBI of the game with a single through the right side.

The Hawks started the top of the fifth with two quick outs.  Matt Stone kept the inning alive with a single down the right-field line and Matt Sucharewicz then hit his second homerun of the weekend to put the Hawks up 4-2.

Manganiello fought back in the bottom of the inning, smacking a leadoff double to left-center.  Pyburn drove him home with a triple to right-center to make it 4-3, but Fortier then retired the next three batters in order, stranding the tying run on third.

The Hawks wasted a leadoff single by Rett Ostafin (Avon, Conn.) in the top of the sixth, and then ran into trouble in the bottom half of the inning.  Fortier allowed a leadoff double to Ray Walker and was then replaced by reliever Kyle Lavin (Shelton, Conn.).  Medeiros made it first and third with a single to left, and Brett Julian moved Medeiros to second with a sacrifice bunt.  Lavin walked pinch-hitter Mark O'Flynn to load the bases before striking out Manganiello for the second out of the inning.  Brendan Pyburn then stepped up to the plate and picked up his third hit of the day, a two-out, two-RBI single to center, to give the Warriors their first lead of the game, 5-4.  Matt Hogan and Tim Curran both added RBI singles to follow him, before catcher Matt Sucharewicz picked off Curran at first to end the inning, but not before the Warriors went ahead 7-4.

The Hawks stranded two runners in the top of the seventh, but David Giarrusso (Cranston, R.I.) kept the Warriors hitless in the bottom of the inning.  Rett Ostafin drew a one-out walk in the top of the eighth, and was replaced on the base paths by Steven Panza due to a fielder's choice.  Garczynski kept the inning alive with an infield single to short, and Murphy kept it going with an RBI single up the middle.  Matt Stone followed him with another RBI single up the middle, and Matt Sucharewicz's hot streak continued, has he smashed a three-run homer over the outfield wall, his third of the weekend, to take back the Hawks' lead, 9-7.

The Warriors stranded two runners in the bottom of the eighth, and the Hawks started the top of the ninth with James Garrigan (Plymouth, Mass.) getting hit by a pitch.  Daniel DeCoste then got on base due to a throwing error by pitcher Ryan NcNeil.  Rett Ostafin made it second and third with a sacrifice bunt.  Steven Panza drove in Garrigan with a grounder to short, but DeCoste then got thrown out by first baseman Matt Hogan as he tried to get to third.

Dooling, staring a three-run deficit head-on, led off the bottom of the ninth with a single through the left side.  Walker flew out to right, but Medeiros kept things going with a single up the middle. Julian got to first on a fielder's choice by the second baseman, scoring Dooling and cutting the Hawks' lead to two.  O'Flynn got on base due to an error by Steven Panza, keeping the inning alive and putting Julian on third.  Manganiello then grounded into a force play at second for the final out of the inning, giving the Hawks a 10-8 victory in game one.

For the third game in a row, every Hawk reached base at least once.  The trio of Murphy, Stone and Sucharewicz kept their bats going strong again today, combining to go 9-for-14 with six runs and nine RBI.  Sucharewicz got on base all five times, going 4-for-4 with a double, two home runs, an intentional walk, two runs, and six RBI.  Garczynski and Ostafin both had two hits in the game as well.

Brendan Pyburn led the Warriors at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a triple, a stolen base, a run and three RBI, and Ed Medeiros went 3-for-4 with a run and two RBI.

Hawk starter Myke Fortier allowed four runs on seven hits and three walks in five innings while striking out five.  Kyle Lavin allowed three runs on four hits in the sixth inning.  David Giarrusso gave up just one hit and struck out two batters in two innings, earning the win, and John Healy (Cranston, R.I.) allowed two hits and a run in the bottom of the ninth, earning his first save of the season.

Dylan Ellis of the Warriors allowed four runs on 11 hits while striking out five in seven innings.  Chris Pinette took the loss, allowing four runs on three hits in 0.2 innings, and Ryan McNeil gave up the final two runs on one hit in 1.1 innings.

Game 2 (Non-conference): Merrimack 5, Saint Anselm 4
The Hawks did not waste any time in the second game, as Joshua Lafond (Goffstown, N.H.) led off the top of the first inning with a single through the right side.  Richie Manzi (Plymouth, N.H.) moved him to second with a ground out to third, and Matt Sucharewicz hit a two-out RBI single to give the Hawks the first run of the game.

After surrendering a leadoff walk to Mark O'Flynn, Hawk starter Timothy Cooney (E. Bridgewater, Mass.) got Brendan Pyburn to ground into an inning-ending double play.  The Hawks wasted a leadoff single in the top of the second, as Jake Halloran struck out three straight batters, and in the bottom of inning, Tim Curran started things off with a single to left-center.  Curran stole second and then got to third on a single by Mike Dooling.  Matt Hogan popped out to short for the first out of the inning, but then Curran and Dooling pulled off a double steal, tying the game at one.

The Hawks stranded a pair once again in the top of the third, and Cooney shut down the Warriors 1-2-3 through the third and fourth.

In the top of the fifth, Lafond got on base due to an error by second baseman Brett Julian.  Manzi moved him to second with a sacrifice bunt and Stone put him on third with a grounder to second.  Matt Sucharewicz then put the Hawks back on top with another two-out RBI single, making it 2-1.

Richie Manzi kept the ball rolling in the top of the seventh with a leadoff double to left-center.  Stone popped out to second, but then Sucharewicz was hit by a pitch to make it first and second.  Rett Ostafin flew out to center for the second out, but Daniel DeCoste put the ball in play and got on by an error by pitcher Chris Caron, scoring Manzi on the play.  Catcher Eric Baca (Franklin, N.H.) then hit an RBI single to left, driving in Sucharewicz and putting the Hawks up 4-1.

The Warriors grounded into an inning-ending double play for the fourth time in the seventh inning, but it all changed in the bottom of the eighth.  Julian drew a leadoff walk to start the inning.  Beau Batchelor popped out to first base, and O'Flynn replaced him at first on a fielder's choice by Matt Greeke (S. Hamilton, Mass.).  O'Flynn stole second, and Paul Manganiello drove him in with a single down the left-field line.  Manganiello stole second, and Pyburn walked.  The two Warriors pulled a double steal to make it second and third, and Curran walked to load the bases.  James Farrington (West Milford, N.J.) then came in to relieve pitcher Eric Simm (Salem, N.H.) who entered at the start of the inning.  Farrington walked Dooling, scoring Manganiello, and the runners all moved up due to a wild pitch that scored Pyburn, before Farrington got Hogan to ground out to shortstop and end the inning.  The Warriors put up three runs in the inning, tying the game 4-4.

Looking to take back the lead, John DiBenedetto (Valrico, Fla.), pinch-hitting for Sucharewicz, got hit by a pitch with one out.  James Garrigan game in to run for him, but got picked off for the second out of the inning.  Ostafin then got hit by a pitch, but DeCoste grounded to second to end the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, Julian got things going for the Warriors with a one-out single.  He stole second base, and then Beau Batchelor played the hero, hitting a walk-off RBI single up the middle to give the Warriors a 5-4 victory in the bottom of the ninth.

Matt Sucharewicz continued his streak at the plate, getting on base in all 10 of today's plate appearances.  He went 2-for-2 with a run and two RBI in game two to finish out the weekend batting .692 with two doubles, three homeruns, four runs, and 14 RBI, reaching base safely 15 times in 19 plate appearances.

Hawk starter Timothy Cooney allowed just one run on six hits in seven innings, striking out four batters.  Eric Simm allowed three runs on one hit in 0.2 innings and James Farrington took the loss, allowing the go-ahead run on two hits in 0.2 innings. 

Jake Halloran allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits and struck out seven in five innings.  Chris Caron allowed two unearned runs on two hits in two innings.  Joe Connors pitched a perfect eighth inning, and Andrew Teahan got the win, pitching a scoreless ninth.