Raiders Charge Past AMCATS to Baseball Sweep

RINDGE, N.H.—The Anna Maria College baseball team dropped both ends of a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader to the Raiders of Rivier University on Saturday afternoon, falling 4-1 in game one and 8-0 in the nightcap.

The wins boost the Raiders to 12-17 overall and 7-6 in GNAC play, while the losses drop Anna Maria to 7-18 overall and 2-11 in league action.

Rivier 4, Anna Maria 1

The AMCATS held a 7-6 advantage in hits but only produced one run on the bottom of the fifth as the Raiders scored three times in the top of the sixth and once in the top of the seventh to take the 4-1 win.

Anna Maria's seven hits came from seven different batters, including a 1-for-3 effort with an RBI by leadoff batter Nate Gray (Kingston, N.Y.).

The AMCATS scored an unearned run in the fifth as Jonathan Roy (Worcester, Mass.) reached on a fielding error by the pitcher, advanced to second on bunt, took third on a fielder's choice, and scored on a single by Gray.

The Raiders  put together back-to-back hits, including an RBI triple by Taylor Black (West Springfield, Mass.), to score their first run of the game. From there, the Raiders loaded the bases and their second run scored on an RBI single to left field by David Feole (Scituate, R.I.).

With one out, Adam Arkell (Dover, N.H.) hit a sacrifice-fly to centerfield to score Mike Scanlon (Plantsville, Conn.) from third for their third run of the game.

In the top of the seventh, Scanlon hit his own sacrifice-fly to score David Cusack (Newburyport, Mass.) for the insurance run.

Edward Soucie (South Ryegate, Vt.) earned the win on the mound for Rivier, allowing one run on seven hits. He struck out three batters.

Camden Parker (Worcester, Mass.) earned the start and pitched 5.1 innings, but Matthew Leahey (Rutland, Mass.) took the loss in relief. The AMCATS threw four pitchers, who combined for four earned runs on six hits and three walks. Parker tossed a team-best seven strikeouts.

Black finished with a game-high two hits in four at-bats for the Raiders.

Rivier 8, Anna Maria 0

Raiders pitcher Lucas Palma (Bristol, Conn.) had a no-hitter going through 6.2 innings, but Anna Maria pinch-hitter Shawn Callahan (Woburn, Mass.) broke it up with a two-out single up the middle in the bottom of the seventh.

While Palma kept the AMCATS off the board, Rivier's offense scored in the first, second, third and seventh innings en route to the 8-0 shutout.

J.J. Montello (Nashua, N.H.) batted 3-for-3 with two RBI from the leadoff slot, while Black finished 3-for-4 with two RBI in the third slot for the Raiders.

Brenden Matthews (Worcester, Mass.) took the loss for Anna Maria, scattering five earned runs in seven hits and two walks in 2.2 innings of work.

Palma finished the day with six strikeouts and three walks for Rivier.

The Raiders will await seeding for the 2015 GNAC tournament which will begin next week. The AMCATS will travel to Becker for a 4:00 p.m. non-conference game on Tuesday, April 28^th.