Raiders Split Twin Billing For First GNAC Win

Rivier College split a double header with Emerson College at historic Holman Stadium in Nashua, NH today.  Rivier took the first game 7-2 for their first GNAC victory of 2011 before falling to the visitors 10-6 in the second game. 

Game 1: Rivier College 7 - Emerson College 2

Rivier junior Kevin Weaver(Hudson, NH) led the way as he pitched Rivier to its first conference win in 2011. Weaver scattered three hits over 7 innings of work, allowing just one earned run with four strikeouts.

With the bat, Weaver started the home team off in the first inning with a single, advanced to second on a walk to junior Kevin Romero (Waterbury, CT) and scored on an RBI ground out by sophomore Kyle Bowser (Newington, NH).  Senior Tyler Eaton (Waterville, ME) had what would be the game winning RBI with a bases clearing double in the same frame.  Freshman Nathan Knoetig(Manchester, NH) chipped in with a single and an RBI and freshman JJ Montello (Nashua, NH) closed out the scoring in the first inning with an RBI of his own.

Weaver got himself both in and out of a jam in the first inning on the mound when he walked the second batter with one out then hit the next batter to put a runner in scoring position, but two straight strikeouts closed the door on any opportunity Emerson had.  Weaver worked a perfect second and third innings before finally giving up a hit in the fourth inning.  A leadoff walk followed by a single, an error, and another single led to Emerson's first run of the game, but Weaver buckled down to stikeout the next batter and induced a ground ball that drove in one run, but produced the second out.  Weaver then picked off the runner at second base to end the inning and escape with just two runs in.

The Raiders added three more runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning to push their lead to 7-2 with both Mike Fecteau (Epping, NH) and Aramis Velez (Lowell, MA) connecting for doubles in the inning.

Romero chipped in with singles in the second and fourth innings and Bowser added a single to lead off the third inning.  Weaver allowed just one hit over the final three frames to keep Emerson from scoring again.

Game 2: Emerson College 10 - Rivier College 6

Game number two saw Emerson bust out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning after a leadoff single and an error. They stretched that lead to 3 in the top of the fourth on a single and a double.

Rivier came storming back to tie the game at 3 in the bottom of the fourth inning as sophomore Aramis Velez (Lowell, MA) led off the inning with a single and freshman Nathan Knoetig (Manchester, NH) was hit by a pitch, putting runners at first and second.  Senior Tyler Eaton (Waterville, ME) rapped a one out double to plate the first Raider run and freshman JJ Montello (Nashua, NH) followed with a 2 run single. 

The Raiders took the lead in the bottom of the fifth as junior Kevin Weaver (Hudson, NH) led off with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by fellow Jjnior Kevin Romero (Waterbury, CT).  Sophomore Aramis Velez (Lowell, MA) smacked a single, putting runners at first and third, and sophomore Kyle Bowser (Newington, NH) drove in two runs clearing all base runners with a triple to center field.  Eaton singled again to plate the Raiders third run of the inning to give Rivier a 6-3 lead.

The Raiders couldn't hold the lead long however as Emerson came storing back to put up five runs, four unearned, in the sixth inning to take an 8-6 lead, capped off by a bases clearing triple, then added two more runs in the seventh inning to complete the 10-6 victory.