The Nashua Silver Knights traveled to Billy Bullens Field in Westfield on Thursday night and put up a big one, rolling past the Starfires 16-6 via the mercy rule.
Westfield took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on an unearned run, but Nashua answered in the fourth with four runs. Peter Keblinsky (University of Southern Maine) singled home Connor Smith (Gannon), Ben Peterson (Saint Joseph’s) added a sacrifice fly, and Phoenix Williams (Mount St. Mary’s) followed with a two-run ground-rule double to put the Knights ahead 4-1.
The Starfires tied it back up at 4 in the bottom of the fourth on a Jamison Howland two-run home run, but Caleb Vacchiano (University of Southern Maine) and Keblinsky hit back-to-back solo home runs in the fifth to put Nashua back on top 6-4 for good.
The Knights blew the game open in the sixth, sending eight runs across on RBI contributions from Keblinsky, Phoenix Williams, Connor Smith, and Brendan Horne (VCU), pushing the lead to 13-6. Nashua added two more in the seventh before the mercy rule was triggered.
Keblinsky was the offensive star of the night, going 3-for-4 with 5 RBI, including a home run. Phoenix Williams drove in 3 runs, and Vacchiano added a home run and 2 RBI.
Josh Florence (Stonehill) picked up the win, tossing 2 scoreless innings in relief. Neil MacKinnon (Brown) closed things out with 2 strong innings, striking out 3.
The Silver Knights improve to 7-7 as the Starfires fall to 6-8. Nashua hits the road Friday night to take on the Worcester Bravehearts at 6:30 pm.
