BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – The LIU baseball team faced off with Merrimack Thursday, in a game that would take well over four hours to reach a conclusion. The two teams battled for 16 innings, before the Sharks won on a walk-off single from
Carlton Harper, 5-4.
Merrimack scored first in the game, when a hit runner made it all the way around the bases on LIU errors, putting the Warriors up, 1-0.
The Sharks answered in the bottom of the first with a four-run inning.
Cade Biddle,
Anthony Warneke and
Christopher Wasson loaded the bases on a hit and two walks. Giovanni Ciacco had a single that would bring two runs home. A sac fly by
Andy Camilo scored one more, and then Ciaccio scored from third on a wild pitch, putting the home team up, 4-1.
Neither team would score again until the top of the eighth inning. Merrimack would hit three singles, and then a runner stole home, closing the gap to 4-3.
And then, in the top of the ninth, with two outs and a 2-2 count, Merrimack's first baseman blasted a ball over the right center field fence to tie it up, 4-4.
From there, LIU would continue to threaten. The Sharks got runners in scoring position in the bottom of the 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th innings, and loaded the bases in the bottom of the 15th with one out, but couldn't bring any runs home.
In the bottom of the 16th, with two outs, LIU was able to get a run in.
Seth Surrett reached on a fielding error, and stole second.
Carlton Harper came in to pinch hit, and came up big, with a long single to left field. Surrett would score from second, and the Sharks took the win on a walk off, 5-4.
LIU's pitching staff did well over 16 frames. Senior
Patrick Clyne came out with the win (1-0), pitching the final 2.0 innings and holding the Warriors scorless.
Ryan Neuweiler had the start, striking out four in the first 6.0 innings. Seniors
Rob Griswold and
Salvatore Ferro also pitched well. Griswold would strikeout seven of the 10 batters he faced, while Ferro pitched 4.0 innings, holding Merrimack to just two hits, while striking out five.
Up next, the two teams resume the series in a nine inning game, Saturday, May 21. Start time has been moved to 2 p.m.
