Box Score

RINDGE, N.H. – The first game of the Northeast-10 Championships featured a shocking upset in a pitching duel between the No. 13 ranked Southern Connecticut State University baseball team and Merrimack College. The No. 6 seeded Warriors captured a 5-2 win over the No. 1 seeded Owls on Thursday afternoon at Franklin Pierce University. Chris Zbin (Colchester, Conn.) threw six scoreless innings before allowing only three earned runs (four total) in seven and two-third innings but it wasn't enough as Southern only connected on four hits offensively.

The Owls dropped the first game of the Northeast-10 Championships to fall to 34-10-1 overall. With the win, Merrimack improves to 20-17 and will face the loser of game three between New Haven and Stonehill. Southern will face the loser of game two in an elimination game between either Franklin Pierce or Adelphi.

Southern kept the Warriors from scoring first in the top of the fifth. With a runner on third and two outs remaining, #A.J. Rouleau# (Westborough, Mass.) grounded a hard hit ball and threw to home from his knees to take away the go-ahead run. In the next at-bat, Nick DeProspo (Worcester, Mass.) caught the first base runner in a large lead to record the third out of the inning.

However, two innings later the Warriors did get on the board. With a runner on first, Ray Walker fouled off pitch after pitch before connecting for a home run over the left field wall as Merrimack took a 2-0 lead after seven. They would add two more runs in the eighth to pull ahead by four.

Southern finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth. With a runner on first and one out remaining, DeProspo hit a double off the center field wall to bring in Jordan Hockenberry (Glastonbury, Conn.). On advancing to third, a passed ball from the catcher to third baseman allowed DeProspo to cross home plate and cut the deficit by two heading into the ninth.

The Warriors ended Southern's run short and piled on another run in the top of the ninth on a RBI double by Brett Julian to take the game, 5-2.

DeProspo was responsible for both Owls' scores and also connected on two hits to lead the team offensively. He was 2-for-4 from the plate with a RBI and a run scored. Hockenberry and Matt Pessy (Greenwich, Conn.) each added a hit for the Owls. For Zbin, it marked just his second loss of the season and is now 7-2 overall.

The Owls return to Pappas Field tomorrow, May 7 to face the loser of game two between Franklin Pierce and Adelphi. Game time is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.