MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Merrimack College scored six runs in the bottom of the first inning en route to a 12-5 non-conference baseball victory over Felician University during the final day of the Northeast Challenge event on Sunday afternoon at the Ripken Experience Complex.

Merrimack (2-3) was ranked No. 7 in the preseason NCAA Division II East Region writers' poll. Felician was the No. 4 team on the same list.

Merrimack, the designated home team, opened the first inning scoring when Ryan Petrone (Leicester, Mass.) came home on a bases-loaded passed ball. Matthew Ronai (Orange, Conn.) followed with a two-run triple, the first of four consecutive Warrior hits and the second of five for the innings.

Felician (3-2) gained a run back in the second when a double by Ralph Caccavale (Massapequa, N.Y.) plated Ronnie Grant (Burlington, N.J.), who had drawn a one-out walk. But Merrimack chased Golden Falcon starting pitcher Drue Brooks (Spring Hill, Fla.) (0-1) with two more runs in the bottom of the second, including a solo home run by Mike Hoalcraft (Fayetteville, N.Y.).

Felician's comeback efforts were hampered by leaving 11 runners on base. Felician scored three times in the sixth, when, with the bases loaded, J.R. Meneses (Lake Worth, Fla.) was hit by a pitch, Caccavale walked, and Matt Kleinstein (Marlboro, N.J.) drove in a run on a fielder's choice grounder. The Golden Falcons put the tying run at the plate in the sixth and the go-ahead run in the seventh, but could not draw closer than a three-run deficit.

Merrimack tacked on three runs in the eighth for the final margin.

Ronai finished 3 for 5 with a triple, home run, three runs scored and three RBI and teammate Joey Porricelli (Monroe, Conn.) also drove in three runs. Bruce Strickland (Hazlet, N.J.) had two hits for Felician, and sophomore Kyle Parks (Nassau, Bahamas), in his first collegiate pitching appearance, worked 3 2/3 hitless innings with five strikeouts in relief of Brooks.