Baseball finishes Spring Trip with 10-6 win over Pitt-Bradford

(Fort Myers, Fla.) The Rivier University Baseball program ended their most successful spring break trip this morning with a 10-6 win over the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford inside the Terry Park Stadium in beautiful, sunny Fort Myers, Fla. The Raiders are now 2-5 to begin their season which is the best under fourth year Head Coach Anthony Perry and the programs best start since 2007 (2-3 record).

Senior Alex Mears (Salem, N.H.) allowed just five runs – all in the third – over five innings of work for his first win as a Raider. Mears issued five walks and surrendered seven hits while strking out three. The bullpen effort of juniors Nick Pica (Hampstead, N.H.), Matthew Keefe (Bradford, Mass.) and Jon Chotkowski (Tewksbury, Mass.) combined to give up just one run on four hits the rest of the way.

Rivier (2-5 overall) got on the board first when junior Jeremy Ball (Swanzey, N.H.) placed a perfect bunt single in which the UPB third baseman fielded it and threw the ball down the line. The errant throw allowed senior Michael Scanlon (Plantsville, Conn.) to scamper all the way to third. Scanlon would score just two pitches later as a wild pitch gave the Raiders the 1-0 lead.

UPB would battle back and plate five runs in the home half of the third. The Panthers got huge RBI hits from freshmen Jean Turber (Northumberland, Pa.), Jay Clinger (Edinboro, Pa.) and Caleb Bennett (Kersey, Pa.) before sophomore Matthew Sompel (Scranton, Pa.) smacked a two run double to deep left field.

Rivier would collect themselves and have a big inning of their own in the fifth. Junior Mike Janerico (Waquiot, Mass.) would start the rally with a single through the right side and classmate Frederick O'Brien (South Boston, Mass.) worked a walk. Senior JJ Montello (Nashua, N.H.) then laced a bases clearing double to left field to get the Raiders within two runs. Senior David Cusack (Newburyport, Mass.) would reach on a bunt single but advance all the way to home after a pair of throwing errors by Pitt-Bradford – Montello also scored on the play to give Rivier a 6-5 lead. A walk to junior Taylor Black (West Springfield, Mass.) forced UPB to go to the bullpen and Scanlon greeted the new pitcher by smacking a two run double into the left-center gap. He would later score on Ball's RBI single up the middle and give the Raiders a lead they would not relinquish.

Cusack finished the day going 3-for-4 with 2 RBI while Montello, Scanlon and Ball all had two hits apiece. Sophomore Drew Neely (Lakeland, Fla.) went 1-for-4 with a RBI single in the 9th.

The Raiders will fly back north tomorrow afternoon and will return to action next Saturday (3/21) when they host Gallaudet University inside of Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, Maryland. Game time is set for 7pm.