Merrimack College announced on Mar. 26 that its baseball team will face Manhattan in a three-game conference series this weekend in Lawrence, Massachusetts.
The matchup is important for Merrimack as the team aims for its third conference series win of the season. The games are scheduled with the first pitch set for Friday at 3 p.m., followed by game two on Saturday at 1 p.m., and the final game on Sunday at noon.
The pitching staff is led by Colby Barker, who holds a 5-0 record and ranks second nationally in earned run average (ERA) with a mark of 0.35. Barker is one of only ten pitchers in Division I baseball with an undefeated record after five decisions.
On offense, Jayden Hamilton leads Merrimack with 28 hits over the first 21 games, including three doubles and twelve runs batted in (RBIs). Matt DeShiro and Greg Cristino each have six doubles, while Cristino also leads the team with twenty-two RBIs and maintains a .296 batting average. Joey Frammartino tops several offensive categories for Merrimack, including batting average (.355), on-base plus slugging percentage (1.055), slugging percentage (.532), walks (19), and times hit by pitch (5). Christian Scanlon recently hit his fourth home run of the season during a pinch-hit appearance on Tuesday.
Freshman catcher Garrett McGovern has contributed significantly as well, posting a .353 batting average along with eighteen hits and eleven RBIs so far this season.
As Merrimack prepares to host Manhattan, players and coaches look to build momentum through strong performances both on the mound and at bat.
