BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven baseball team scored six unanswered runs in the final game of the Northeast-10 Baseball Championship, downing Merrimack to win its first-ever conference crown. Peter Jay (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) was named the championship’s Most Valuable Player.
 
As the advancing team from the winners’ bracket, the Chargers needed to win one game while Merrimack needed to take two at Frank Vieira Field to claim the championship. The Warriors won their third elimination game in two days, 6-0, in the opener before New Haven erased a 4-0 deficit to take the tournament title with a 6-4 triumph.
 
New Haven (33-14) has earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II East Region Championship. Merrimack (30-19) is in contention for an at-large bid after tying its program record for single-season wins in today’s opener.
 
Jay turned in three scoreless appearances totaling six innings in the championship en route to MVP honors. He struck out the side in perfect fashion in Tuesday’s first round win over Adelphi, retired all nine batters he faced to earn the win in a 4-3, 11-inning victory over Bentley on Thursday, and notched the final six outs today to earn a save and secure the championship.
 
The save was Jay’s 13th of spring, surpassing Mitch Rossi ’11 for the New Haven single-season record.
 
Brendan O’Reilly hit .412 (7-for-17) in the postseason with two runs batted in, five runs scored and four stolen bases to claim his place on the All-Championship Team. Pat Simone (Branford, Conn./Branford) was also honored after ceding just one earned run in 13 innings of action in his two starts this week. He earned the win on Tuesday and was saddled with the hard-luck loss in today’s opening game.
 
Game one started as a pitchers’ duel with Simone trading zeroes against Merrimack right-hander Alek Morency. The Warriors scratched out an unearned tally in the top of the fifth inning and added two more runs – one of which was also unearned – in the seventh to open up a 3-0 advantage. Merrimack would plate three more runs as Morency, who earned a place on the NE-10 All-Championship Team, dealt a complete-game shutout to extend the championship to a final, deciding game.
 
Joe RomanellI (Baldwin, N.Y./Holy Trinity) had two of New Haven’s seven hits in the opener – including a double.
 
The Warriors carried the momentum of their third-consecutive win into the second game. Two UNH fielding errors aided a four-run top of the first inning that staked Merrimack to a 4-0 advantage. But New Haven starter Frank Vilacha (Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth) buckled down to induce a groundout by NE-10 Player of the Year Casey Cotter with the bases loaded to end the first frame and begin a string of 13 straight batters retired by the Chargers’ right-hander to facilitate the comeback.
 
New Haven plated its first run in the bottom of the second inning as Kyle Cullen (Dumont, N.J./Dumont) led off with a triple and came home on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Johnson (Branford, Conn./Branford / Wheaton). The Chargers rattled off two more runs in their next trip to the plate. Brendon Buckley (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) started the home half of the third with a single and took second on a sacrifice bunt by Stephen Clout (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern). Buckley then stole third and scored on an O’Reilly base-hit. Romanelli kept the wheels moving with a single, and Chris DeMorais (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) lined a sacrifice fly into centerfield to cut the deficit to single run at 4-3.
 
The Chargers took their first lead of the afternoon in the fourth inning. Johnson led off with a single and promptly stole second base. After two outs, Buckley delivered the game-tying single and then swiped a bag to move into scoring position. The hit that stood as the game-winner came off the bat of Clout, who singled through the left side to put New Haven on top, 5-4.
 
Vilacha capped his outing with a perfect fifth and was relieved by Jason Lewicki (Milford, Conn./Foran), who hung a zero on the board in the sixth stanza. Joey Royer (Westbrook, Maine/Cheverus), who pitched five innings of relief to earn a win yesterday, worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning, and Jay induced an inning-ending double play to get around a one-out walk followed by an error in the eighth.
 
Cullen worked a lead-off walk in the eighth inning and stole second and third. The Chargers’ left fielder  then raced home on a wild pitch as New Haven tack on an insurance run without the benefit of hit, taking a 6-4 advantage into the ninth frame.
 
Jay got a groundout and fly out to start the ninth before Pat Florence singled to keep the game alive and bring up Cotter as the potential tying run. The NE-10 Player of the Year put a good swing on an 0-1 pitch, but lined it directly to O’Reilly in centerfield for the final out.
 
Vilacha improved to 7-2 with the win.  Brina Wolfendale (1-1) took the loss out of the Merrimack bullpen and Jay registered the save.
 
Buckley, Clout and Romanelli each had two hits in the clinching game. The Chargers also stole eight bases, including two apiece for O’Reilly, Cullen and Buckley. New Haven has swiped 127 bags this season, the second-most thefts in program history and the most since 1965 (144).
 
In addition to their first-ever Northeast-10 Championship in five seasons as a member of the conference, the Chargers will also make their 28th NCAA regional appearance and 33rd national postseason trip overall. New Haven’s 33 wins are also tied for the third-most in program history and the most in a single season since 2006 – the final campaign for legendary head coach Frank “Porky” Vieira.
 
The NCAA Division II Baseball Selection Show is scheduled for 10 p.m. tomorrow night on NCAA.com. NewHavenChargers.com will have complete coverage of the selection as well as the Chargers’ quest for an 18th College World Series appearance.