Rivier Baseball drops two to Calumet College

(Auburndale, Florida) In a doubleheader against Calumet College the Men's Baseball team dropped both games by scores of 10-6 and 8-2.

In a Tuesday morning game the Rivier University Raiders fell behind early and were unable to surmount a 6 run deficit. Getting his first collegiate start was freshman Nick Pica (Hampstead, NH). Pica pitched four innings for the Raiders allowing 7 runs and striking out 3 in his debut.

After the Raiders allowed only 1 run in the first inning the Calumet offense exploded for 5 runs in the top half of the second. Rivier would respond with two runs of their own after RBI singles by freshmen Taylor Black (West Springfield, MA) and Michael Janerico (Waquoit, MA). Calumet would take a 7-2 lead in the top of the fourth and over the next two innings the Raiders would climb back within 2 bringing the score to 7-5. Unfortunately in the top of the 7th Calumet put the game out of reach after a bases loaded double by Thomas Mosley. The final score would be 10-6 after Rivier added a run in the bottom of the final frame.

The Raider offense saw 5 players with multiple hits but was stagnant when needed (12 runners left on base). Leading the way was senior tri-captain Aramis Velez (Lowell, MA) who was 3-5 on the day. Fellow senior and tri-captain Kyle Bowser (Newington, NH) had the Raiders lone extra base hit with an RBI double and a stolen base. Freshman Jeremy Ball (Swanzey, NH) was 2-3 with an RBI, 2 runs and a stolen base.

Calumet received a complete game effort from Matthew Pruneau who allowed 6 runs over 7 innings and struck out 6. Thomas Mosley led the Calumet offense by going 3-5 with 2 doubles, 4 RBIs and 2 runs.

The second contest of the day was similar to the first as Calumet notched the 8-2 victory after jumping out to an early lead. The Raider's bats struggled after putting up a run both the second and third innings. Sophomore Mike Scanlon (Plantsville, CT) and Jeremy Ball had both RBIs for Rivier. In his first start for the Raiders sophomore Jesse Turcotte (Tyngsboro, MA) despite allowing 7 runs pitched 5 strong innings and struck out 4.

Calumet once again received a complete game pitching effort from their starter Sergio Esquivia. He allowed just 2 runs and struck out 4. Offensively for Calumet Thomas Mosley and Fransico Johnson each went 2-3 combining for 3 RBIs and 2 runs. 6 different batters had RBIs for Calumet.

With the losses the Raiders fall to 0-4 on the season. With the victories Calumet improves their record to 3-6.