Baseball: Kazalski goes 2-for-3 but Raiders fall to Emerson, 14-3

(Danvers, Mass.) Returning to action for the first time in nine days, the Rivier University Baseball team suffered a 14-3 defeat this afternoon to Emerson College in a non-conference contest held at Saint John's Prep in Danvers, Massachusetts. The Raiders see their overall record dip to 1-8 with the loss while the Lions inch closer to .500 at 4-6 overall.

Emerson scored three times in the first to take control of the game and then added two runs in the third, three in the fourth, two in the sixth and had a four-run seventh. Rivier broke up the shutout bid in the sixth with a pair of runs and added a single run in the seventh for the 14-3 final.

Freshman Frederick Kazalski (Dracut, Mass.) was the tone setter for the Raiders as he went 2-for-3 with three stolen bases, a RBI and a run scored. Sophomore Eric Maxfield (Lowell, Mass.) and freshman Christian Greener (Hermon, Maine) were the other Raiders to record a hit in the contest.

Freshman Cameron Way (El Cajon, Calif.) was credited with the loss after throwing just one inning allowing three runs, one earned, on one hit and striking out three. Classmate Zachery Rodrigues (Achunset, Mass.) then tossed 4.2 innings of relief before fellow freshman Daniel White (Augusta, Maine) and junior James Magno (Gray, Maine) closed out the game on the hill.

Henry Schwartz improved to 1-2 on the year for Emerson as the right-hander pitched six innings of one-hit ball in which he allowed two unearned runs and struck out four. Jake Mitchell, Sam Knox and Jack Fox each threw an inning for the Lions.

John Gabert went 1-for-3 with three RBI and hit his first career home run in the contest while Neil Perry, Joe Cuccio and CJ Rogers each had multi-hit games (2-for-4).

Rivier will have a day of rest before heading over to the New England Baseball Complex for a 3pm game against Lesley University on Tuesday afternoon.