Baseball: DiVito, Rivier can't top Fitchburg State

Baseball: DiVito, Rivier can't top Fitchburg State

(Nashua, N.H.) The Rivier University Baseball team suffered their fourteenth consecutive loss this evening as they dropped a non-conference contest to visiting Fitchburg State University, 18-2 inside of beautiful Historic Holman Stadium. The Raiders are now 1-16 on the season while the Falcons improve to 8-14 overall.

Fitchburg State plated eight runs in the second inning thanks in large part to three Rivier errors to take the lead and never look back.

Freshman right-hander Alex DiVito (Somerville, Mass.) got the start on the mound and threw well despite not getting help from his defense. He surrendered five hits and struck out three as he allowed thirteen runs (eight earned) on five walks and a hit batsman over his 2.1 innings of work. Senior Drew Neely (Lakeland, Fla.) tossed the next 3.2 innings giving up just one run on six hits. Junior Tyler Ferdinand (Middleboro, Mass.) and his younger brother Marcus Ferdinand (Middleboro, Mass.) spun the final three innings allowing two runs each in the loss.

At the plate, sophomore Brett Iannazzo (Methuen, Mass.) went 2-for-5 and senior Adam Arkell (Dover, N.H.) added a 1-for-3 night as the team collected six hits off of the Falcons pitching staff.

For Fitchburg State, freshman Brandon Lefebvre (Leominster, Mass.) was the offensive star with a 2-for-4, 4 RBI night and sophomore Noah Milliard (Leominster, Mass.) knocked in two RBI on his 3-for-4 night to highlight the 18 run offensive output for the Falcons. Sophomore Evan Meleedy (Lakeville, Mass.) earned the win as he threw two innings of hitless relief while striking out two.

Next up for the Raiders will be a date with the University of Maine-Presque Isle on Friday morning. Game time is set for 11:30 AM inside Historic Holman Stadium. Fitchburg State, meanwhile, will return to action tomorrow afternoon as they host Keene State in a non-conference contest at Michael P. Riccards Field for a 3:30 PM start time.