SETTERS DROP SEASON FINALE TO MERRIMACK COLLEGE 6-3

NORTH ANDOVER, MA - The Pace University baseball team lost the final game of their 2009 season on Sunday afternoon in an NE-10 conference match-up to the Warriors of Merrimack College 6-3 at Warrior Field.

The loss drops the Setters final overall record to 20-30-1 for the season, and 14-17 in the Northeast-10 Conference. The win will bring the Warriors to 20-27 for the year, and 11-19 in conference play.

Merrimack struck first in the bottom of the first inning scoring twice off Pace starter Mike Sciarretta (Stamford, CT/Stamford) (2-2) on a hit and an error to take an early 2-0 lead. The Warriors extended their lead to 5-0 after getting to Sciarretta again for three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Sciaretta went five innings on the day giving up five runs (three earned) on four hits. He struck out one, and walked four in his final start of the season.

Pace got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning as JJ Conrad (Hamburg, NJ/Wallkill Valley) (Hamburg, NJ/Wallkill Valley) got the inning started with a two out single to left field. Chris Spatkowski (Bristol, CT/Bristol Eastern) followed with a single of his own down the left field line to put runners on the corners with two outs. Senior Andre Liscinsky (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull) (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull), playing in his final game as a Setter, drove in the first Pace run of the day with an RBI single to right center field to make the score 5-1 after five innings.

With Pace now trailing 6-1, heading into the top of the ninth, the Setters weren't going to have their season end without a fight. Ryan McKeown (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek) (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek) led off the inning with a walk. With a runner on second base, with one out now in the inning, Denis Alimonti (Jefferson Valley, NY/Lakeland) (Jefferson Valley, NY/Lakeland) kept the rally going win an RBI single to right field to close the gap to 6-2. Alimonti then stole second base, advanced to third on a single by Michael Rodriguez (East Hampton, NY/East Hampston) (East Hampton, NY/East Hampton), and scored on a Warriors wild pitch. The Setters had the tying run in the on deck circle with two outs but Spatkowski couldn't extend the game as he grounded out to end the season.