(04-28-09) WEST HAVEN, Conn. - The University of New Haven baseball team defeated visiting Merrimack College, 5-3, on Tuesday afternoon at Frank Vieira Field. The Chargers remain in the sixth and final playoff spot with a 15-13 record in the Northeast-10 Conference and move to 19-17 overall. The Warriors drop to 16-25 overall and 7-17 in the conference this season. Starting pitcher Chris Smith got the Chargers off to a good start, striking out two of the first three batters of the game and not allowing a hit until two outs in the 3rd inning. In the bottom half of the 3rd, New Haven's offense gave Smith a three-run cushion. The Chargers perfectly executed a suicide squeeze with Ryan Brockett reaching first on the bunt that scored Kyle Pettoruto from third base. Two batters later, Jimmy Rivas ripped a two-out single that scored two more runs to give the team a 3-0 lead.
After recording two outs in the top of the 5th inning, the Warriors strung together four consecutive singles and scored three runs to tie the game at 3-3.
The Charges' offense came through again in the bottom of the 5th inning, pushing across one more run on an RBI groundout by Rivas that scored Tom Rombilus from third to give New Haven a 4-3 advantage.
In the top of the 7th, the Warriors threatened with two runners on base and just one out, but relief pitchers Kyle Befus and Kyle Bombace both came in to get one out a piece and get New Haven out of the jam.
New Haven added a run in the bottom of the 8th inning after capitalizing on consecutive wild pitches by the Warriors to give the Chargers a 5-3 lead. That is all closer Mitch Rossi would need as he worked a scoreless 9th inning for his sixth save of the season.
Smith picked up the win for the Chargers to improve to 5-1 on the season. The offense was led by Rombilus who went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and Rivas who went 2-for-4 with three RBI and one run scored. Brockett also had a strong day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored.
New Haven returns to action on Wednesday, April 29 when they taking on visiting Post University in the final home game of the season. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
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