NASHUA, N.H. - Rivier took a pair of Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contests from New England College on Saturday at Harvey Woods Field in Nashua, New Hampshire.
Game 1 – NEC 3, Rivier 8
The Raiders jumped ahead early in the first game, pushing across five runs in the third inning before adding two more in the fourth and another in the fifth. Rivier starter Anthony Morro would hold the Pilgrims to just two hits through the first six innings as they took an 8-0 lead into the seventh.
Leading off the top of the seventh, senior Jackson Round (Cayuga, Ont.) got aboard with a pinch-hit single followed by a single from senior Nick Hernandez (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.). After a passed ball moved the runners to second and third, Round came home to score on a sacrifice fly from senior Ryan Cote (Goffstown, N.H.).
After knocking Morro out of the game in the seventh, graduate Brady Philibotte (Weare, N.H.) welcomed reliever Rowan Cormier with an RBI single to score Hernandez. Two batters later, sophomore Bobby Trigilio (Chicopee, Mass.) doubled home Philibotte for a three-run inning. Cormier was able to force a subsequent groundout to put an end to the NEC seventh-inning rally and take game one, 8-3.
Morro earned the win while allowing two earned runs on four hits. He struck out two and walked six. For NEC, senior Christopher Chagnon (Portsmouth, R.I.) went the distance and suffered the loss.
Game 2 – NEC 3, Rivier 11
The Pilgrims loaded the bases in the top of the first inning, scoring one as freshman Dillan Abbate (Port Jervis, N.Y.) singled down the left field line to plate Philibotte. The Raiders responded with one run of their own in the bottom half of the frame to tie the game at 1-1. Rivier scored two runs in the second, two runs in the third, and two more in the fifth to take a 7-1 lead.
In the top of the sixth, NEC rattled off three consecutive singles from sophomore Jaken Pellerin (Manchester, N.H.), Abbate, and Round to load the bases. Junior Charlie Greenberg (Lewisboro, N.Y.) drove in Pellerin with a sacrifice fly, followed by freshman TJ Hicks (Tampa, Fla.) who doubled home Abbate to pull within four.
Just as the 'Grims inched closer, the Raiders scored four runs on three doubles in the bottom of the sixth to return their lead to eight. The hosts would score three more in the bottom of the eighth to end the game.
The 'Grims had 10 hits in the nightcap but also left nine runners on base and made four errors in the field. The rookies were a bright stop in game two as Hicks had the first multi-hit game of his career as he reached base three times, while Abbate also had a two-hit performance.
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Philibotte reached base four times in the game one defeat and added one hit in game two. With the three hits on the day, he sits just six hits shy of tying the NEC all-time hits record. On the season, he is batting .398 with a career-best 1.209 OPS.
While Philibotte currently ranks fourth in the GNAC with a .510 on-base percentage, Abbate – who reached base four times today – sits in seventh with an even .500 OBP.
The Pilgrims return home tomorrow, Sunday, April 12th, as they host Elms College for another GNAC doubleheader at Laurie Cox Memorial Field beginning at 12:00 PM.
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