NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The University of New Haven baseball team suffered two losses Saturday afternoon to Merrimack College.

The teams went to 10-innings in the opening game and the Warriors pulled off a 7-6 victory. The Chargers led for most of the second game, but a pair of runs in the final two innings for Merrimack completed the Sweek for the Warriors, 5-4. The Chargers dropped to 14-9-1 overall, while the Warriors improved to 14-16 with the two wins.

Game One

Merrimack immediately got on the board in the opening game with a run in the bottom of the first inning. The Warriors improved their lead in the bottom of the second with five more runs off four hits and one UNH error. The game was then scoreless until the top of the sixth inning when Brendon Buckley (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) hit a sacrifice fly to right field and scored Stephen Clout (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern).

Down 1-6 in heading into the ninth, UNH scored five runs in the top of the inning. The Chargers loaded the bases with no outs and scored a pair of runs off an error to bring the score within three, 6-3. Cory Carr (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) stepped to the plate and scored Clout again to bring the score to 4-6. Ryan Brockett (Guilford, Conn./Guilford ) evened the game at 6-6 when he hit a single to left field which was miss-played. The senior eventually scored and evened the game in the top of the ninth.

The game-winner came in the bottom of the tenth inning when the Warriors strung together two hits and drove in the game-winning run.

Peter Jay (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) suffered the loss on the mound for the Chargers, his first of the season. Starter Taylor Candage (Portland, Maine/Deering) went one 2/3 innings, while Joy Royer pitched a majority of the game with six 1/3 innings of relief. The freshman struck out nine batters and allowed just two hits.

At the plate, Joe Romanelli (Baldwin, N.Y./Holy Trinity) went 2-for-3 with one run. Brockett went 3-for-4 with one run and Carr went 2-for-5 with one RBI and one run.

Game Two

In the nightcap, New Haven took the first lead of the game in the top of the third inning. Carr hit a single down the right field line and scored David Wirkus (Orange, Conn./Fairfield Prep / St. Anselm College). One inning later, Zach Collett (Westbrook, Maine/Westbrook) hit a double to left center and drove in the second run of the games. One-out later, Wirkus singled to right field and gave the Chargers a 3-0 lead. In the fifth, the Chargers took a 4-0 lead after Buckley drove in a Clout off a single through the left side.

In the bottom of the sixth, Merrimack began its rally. The Warriors scored one run in the bottom of the sixth, two runs in the bottom of the seventh, and tied the game at 4-4 with one run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Back-to-back outs in the bottom of the ninth and the game was one out away from extra innings. Merrimack got a runner on base after a hit by pitch and then the game-winning RBI single through the right side gave the Warriors the two-game sweep.

Collett went 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run at the plate. Carr and Bucklet both went 2-for-4 with one RBI. Wirkus went 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run in the game. John Melville (Ulster Park, N.Y./Kingston) pitched the first six innings and allowed one earned run. Frank Vilacha (Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth) and Peter Jay (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) both made relief appearances.

New Haven will return to action on Tuesday, April 10 when it hosts American International College at Frank Vieira Field. The game was rescheduled from a previouly scheduled game and will start at 3:30 p.m. For complete coverage, stay posted to www.NewHavenChargers.com throughout the week.