NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England College baseball team fell at the hands of Anna Maria College on Tuesday afternoon, suffering a 9-5 loss at the New England Baseball Complex in Northborough, Massachusetts.
The AMCATS quickly went up 3-0 in the bottom of the first inning as Brady Aylward launched a three-run home run. By the end of the second, the Anna Maria lead had grown to 4-0.
Back-to-back hit-by-pitches to start the fifth, followed by a passed ball, gave the 'Grims a chance to get on the board, and freshman TJ Hicks (Tampa, Fla.) came through to drive in graduate Tyler Fenton (Wilmington, Mass.) and cut the deficit to three. The AMCAT lead would quickly balloon back to six as the hosts plated three runs in the bottom of the sixth.
In the top of the seventh, junior Charlie Greenberg (Lewisboro, N.Y.) and senior Nick Hernandez (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) both reached on singles to set the table for the hot-hitting senior Ryan Cote (Goffstown, N.H.) with two outs. Cote slugged the 1-0 pitch to deep left center field for his fourth home run of the season to bring the Pilgrims back within three.
Justin Chiulli provided an answer for the AMCATS as he knocked a solo shot in the bottom-half of the seventh to make it an 8-4 ballgame entering the eighth. Leading off the eighth, Fenton smacked a double to left field before coming around to score on a double from junior Mike Monteforte (Wilmington, Mass.). AMC added one more run in the bottom half of the frame to take a 9-5 advantage.
In the ninth, the 'Grims loaded the bases to bring the tying run to the plate with two outs, but the AMCATS forced a pop-up to take the non-conference matchup. On the mound for the 'Grims, junior Colby Rohr (Highland Village, Tex.) pitched three scoreless innings out of the pen, striking out two.
Despite the loss, graduate Brady Philibotte (Weare, N.H.) reached base four times with three hits including another double. He sits tied for first in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) in extra-base hits (17), fourth in on-base percentage (.500), and fifth in batting average (.390).
With Cote hitting his fourth home run of the season, the senior has surpassed his total from the first three years of his career. Over the past three weeks, the outfielder has slashed .485/.596/.909 with 12 RBIs and 13 runs scored.
The Pilgrims will return to conference action on Saturday, April 11th, as they head to Rivier for a GNAC doubleheader. First pitch from Holman Stadium is set for 12:00 PM.
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