NO. ANDOVER, Mass. – Senior Dan DeCoste (Chelmsford, Mass.) went 4-for-10 and swatted a pair of home runs and freshman Mike Hayden (Cranston, R.I.) went 5-for-10 with three RBI, including one in the 11th inning of the first game, as the Saint Anselm College baseball team swept a pair of contests from Merrimack College on Saturday afternoon at Warrior Diamond. Saint Anselm pulled out an 8-6 victory in 11 innings in game one before earning a 10-3 win in the second game.
The Hawks, who have now lost just three times in their last 12 games, improve to 20-19-2 on the season, including 8-4-1 in Northeast-10 Northeast Division play, and are over .500 for the first time since Feb. 26. The Hawks sit a game behind first-place Franklin Pierce, who is 9-3-1 in the division. The Warriors fall to 17-22, 4-8 NE-10 NE.
Merrimack grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning of game one when Joe Mantoni slugged a two-out, two run homer.
The Hawks then tied it with a pair in the second. Hayden led off the inning with a single down the left field line and went to second on a wild pitch. After sophomore Nate Gonya (Wolfeboro, N.H.) singled up the middle to put runners at the corners with no one out, sophomore Kyle Grumoli (So. Hadley, Mass.) singled to right to plate Hayden. Later in the inning, sophomore Tito Lluberes (Lawrence, Mass.) drove in Gonya with a sacrifice fly to center that made it 2-2.
Saint Anselm took its first lead in the third when DeCoste hit a one-out solo shot that put the Hawks on top, 3-2.
The Warriors regained the lead, 4-3, in the bottom of the fourth on Alan Pastyrnak's two-run single up the middle.
DeCoste again kept the Hawks in it as he hit another one-out solo home run in the fifth to tie it at four.
Mantoni homered to lead off the bottom of the frame before Tim Curran's RBI single up the middle in the sixth gave Merrimack a 6-4 advantage.
Hayden's RBI groundout in the seventh pulled the Hawks within one and set the stage for ninth-inning dramatics. With one out and the bases empty in the top of the ninth, junior Robert Kelly (Aurora, Colo.) drove a solo home run over the fence in right-center to knot the game at six.
After the first two batters of the ninth reached against senior Timothy Cooney (E. Bridgewater), who kept the Hawks in it with three solid innings of relief, senior Neil Hesek (Northboro, Mass.) entered the game and got Mantoni to ground out to short for the first out of the inning. With first base open, the Hawks intentionally walked Mark O'Flynn to load the bases. Hesek then induced a shallow fly to right off the bat of Tom Lanzoni and struck out Eddie Newton to end the inning and force extra frames.
After the Hawks left two on in the 10th, they broke through in the top of the 11th. Junior Richie Manzi (Plymouth, N.H.) led off the inning with a single to right and then stole second. Kelly drew a walk to put two on with no one out before DeCoste popped out to short. Sophomore Dan Lagasse (Londonderry, N.H.) broke the tie with a single to center that scored Manzi. Kelly then scored to make it 8-6 when Hayden reached on a fielder's choice grounder to third that forced Lagasse out at second.
Junior James Farrington (W. Milford, N.J.) pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the 11th for his fifth save of the season.
DeCoste and junior Andrew Chandler (Westford, Mass.) were each 2-for-5, while Hayden and Manzi were 2-for-6. DeCoste drove in a pair with his two solo home runs and also scored twice, Hayden drove in two runs and scored a run and Manzi scored twice. Kelly was 1-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Kelly also started and went the first five innings, allowing five runs on eight hits, while walking three and striking out three. Cooney worked the next three innings, giving up one run on four hits and recording a strike out. Hesek (3-4) tossed two hitless innings, walking one and striking out two, as he extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 12. Farrington pitched a perfect ninth, recording a strikeout.
In the second game, the Hawks went up 1-0 in the top of the third when senior Jeffrey Criscuolo (Durham, Conn.) led off the inning with a double to right, moved to third on a Chandler ground out and scored on Lluberes' single to right.
Merrimack tied it in the bottom of the inning on Curran's two-out RBI single up the middle that scored Joe Burnham, who led off with a double.
Saint Anselm grabbed a 3-1 lead in the fourth when Gonya came through with a two-run, bases-loaded single down the right field line.
Newton's RBI double down the left field line in the bottom of the inning cut Merrimack's deficit in half.
The Hawks went back up by two in the eighth when Lluberes' two-out single plated Gonya, who led off the frame with a walk. The Warriors answered the run to make it 4-3 in the bottom of the inning on Rob Crocitto's solo shot to left.
Saint Anselm then broke it wide open with a six-spot in the ninth. Kelly led off with a single to center and then scored when Lagasse reached on an error. Hayden followed with an RBI single to center that plated DeCoste, who had followed Kelly's single with one of his own. Gonya then drove in Lagasse with a sac fly to center and the Hawks led, 7-3.
After Hayden moved to second on a wild pitch, Criscuolo drove him in with a double down the left field line. Criscuolo advanced to third on Chandler's single to left and after Chandler stole second, both runners moved 90 feet on a wild pitch. Manzi then plated Chandler with an RBI single to right that made it 10-3 and closed the scoring.
Senior Sean Hayden (Haverhill, Mass.) started and went 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on six hits, while striking out two and walking two. Hayden earned the win to improve to 4-4. Junior William O'Connor (Worcester, Mass.) worked 1.1 innings, giving up one run on one hit, while striking out a batter. Sophomore Matt Lessard (Hooksett, N.H.) tossed a hitless ninth.
Hayden went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, while Lagasse was 2-for-3 and scored twice. Criscuolo was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored and Chandler was also 2-for-4 with a run. Lluberes drove in a pair and went 3-for-6 at the dish, while DeCoste scored twice and was 2-for-5. Gonya drove in three runs and scored once as he was 1-for-3. Kelly went 2-for-6 and scored a run.
The Hawks return to action Sunday, April 22 at noon when they wrap up the three-game set with Merrimack. The next home game for the Hawks is Tuesday, April 24 at 3:30 p.m. when they play host to Southern New Hampshire at Sullivan Park.
