BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Pat Simone (Branford, Conn./Branford) retired the first 18 batters he faced, and TJ Riccio (Port Jeff Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) drove in four runs as the University of New Haven baseball team claimed the first game of a twin bill, 13-1, over Merrimack on Sunday afternoon at Frank Vieira Field. The visiting Warriors salvaged a split with a 10-3 win in the night cap of Northeast-10 cross-divisional doubleheader.
 
After today's results, the Chargers stand at 4-3 overall and 2-2 in NE-10 play. The Warriors move to 9-6 on the season with a 3-1 conference mark. The twin bill will not factor into the NE-10 postseason picture, which is determined by NE-10 divisional record. The Chargers are members of the Southwest Division, and Merrimack belongs to the Northeast Division.
 
Game 1
Simone was perfect through six innings in the opening game and faced the minimum through seven frames. He worked the first eight in total, improving to 2-1 after scattering just four hits and one earned run. The southpaw struck out four batters and did not issue a walk. Taylor Hughes (Nantucket, Mass./Nantucket / Bridgton Academy) struck out two batters in a hitless ninth inning, posting a zero in his collegiate debut.
 
Riccio hit safely in his first four at-bats to go 4-for-5 with four RBI in game one. Kyle Cullen (Dumont, N.J./Dumont) added two hits, including a double, with eight additional Chargers notching one hit. Brendon Buckley (Monroe, Conn./Masuk), Zach Collett (Westbrook, Maine/Westbrook) and Chris DeMorais (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) each registered two runs batted in. Brendan O'Reilly knocked in a run and swiped a base, while Collett scored three of New Haven's 13 runs.
 
The Blue and Gold started the scoring in the second inning. DeMorais and Collett each walked to set the table and advanced 90 feet on a balk. The game's first hit scored both runners as Riccio lined a single into right field to stake the Chargers to a 2-0 advantage.
 
The New Haven bats broke the game open in the third frame, plating nine runs on seven hits. The Chargers sent 13 batters to the plate and induced a pair of pitching changes in the stanza. DeMorais, Collett, Riccio and Buckley each had two RBI in the frame, with Tom Walraven (Pine Bush, N.Y./Pine Bush) scoring twice as the margin ran to 11-0.
 
A pair of runs also came home in the fourth inning on an Eddie Tammaro (South Hempstead, N.Y./South Side) single and an O'Reilly bases-loaded walk to extend to lead to 13-0.
 
A leadoff single in the top of the seventh inning marked the first baserunner for the Warriors, though Simone erased him with a double-play ball and then induced a strikeout to end the frame. Merrimack scratched out a run in the eighth to round out the score at its eventual final of 13-1.
 
Junior Vasquez took the loss in his season debut for the Warriors. He registered six outs, leaving after the first three batters of the third, and ceded five earned runs on one hit, five walks and three wild pitches.
 
Game 2
In the nightcap, Merrimack scored the game's first seven runs before the Chargers got on the board in the bottom of the third. Walraven worked a one-out walk and Buckley followed with an RBI double to cut the deficit to 7-1.
 
However, the Warriors would plate three more before New Haven scored again. Trailing 10-1, the Chargers plated a pair in the bottom of the eighth. DeMorais and Cullen singled to start the frame and an error plated DeMorais on a Collett fielder's choice. Walraven later beat out a potential double play to record on RBI as Collett came home to cap the scoring with New Haven on the short end of 10-3 decision.
 
DeMorais and Collett had two hits apiece in game two. The loss on the mound went to right-handed senior John Melville (Ulster Park, N.Y./Kingston), who fell to 0-1. Vincent Aprea (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) fired 2.2 scoreless frames out of the bullpen, followed by an inning from Connor Moriarty (Branford, Conn./Branford) and a perfect ninth spun by Brian Caselli (Stratford, Conn./Stratford).
 
The Chargers return to action at Vieira Field for their first Northeast-10 Southwest Division contest on Wednesday, March 26 with a 3 p.m. visit from Pace. New Haven topped the Setters, 12-6, in the non-conference season opener on March 7 at Baseball Heaven.