Knights

(Nashua, NH): The Knights offense showed both sides of itself on Saturday afternoon, as they split a double-header with the Westfield Starfires, winning game one 14-7 and falling in game two, 1-0. Nashua now trails Worcester by 1.5 games for the top spot in the FCBL standings.

Game 1:

Westfield wasted no time in the opening game as they rushed out to a 7-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning. Their early offense was highlighted by a Drew Demartino (Hartford) RBI double in the 4th, a 2-RBI single by Mark Coley (URI), and an RBI single by Danny Crossen (Northeastern).

Nashua would rally with three of their own in the fifth off Westfield reliever Jimmy Hagan to cut the lead to 7-4. Nick Shumski (Merrimack) reached via FC before stealing second, and taking third base two pitches later. Troy Schreffler Jr. (Maryland) would walk and steal second before Shumski scored on a wild pitch. John Mead (Franklin Pierce) would follow, hitting his second home run of the season. 

The Knights then erupted for ten runs on six hits in the sixth to seal the game, sending 14 batters to the plate. Brett Anderson (Hartford) lead off the inning with a single. Stalman and Shumski would both walk to load the bases. Schreffler, Jr. and Mead would also walk to score Anderson and Stalman. Shumski would score on an unsuccessful FC. Later, Dylan Jones (Franklin Pierce) would single, scoring his college teammate, Mead. Anderson would have another at-bat in the inning, this time sending a pitch over the right field wall for a 3-run shot. Schreffler would collect an RBI single to finish the inning for Nashua. 

Shea Ryan (Assumption) picked up the win for Nashua. He is now 2-1 on the summer. He went 2 innings, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits while striking out 2. Josh Cohen (UConn) took the loss for Westfield after giving up 5R, 4ER in 0.1 innings along with 4 walks. 

Game 2:

The second half of the day was not a mirror image by any means. Both starting pitchers were settled in through the first five innings. Pat Harrington (Assumption) and Chase Jeter (Sacred Heart) went back and forth, but the Starfires were able to get a run off Harrington in the top of the third. Jeter shut down the Knights for the second time this season.

The lone run of the game came when Mark Coley (URI) lead off the inning with a single and would score on a single by Andre Marrero (Quinnipiac). All nine of the Westfield hits were singles. The only extra-base hit of the game was courtesy of a Luke Beckstein (Kansas State) double. 

Jeter picked up the win, going 5 innings, only giving up 3 hits, walking 2 and striking out 6. Harrington suffered the defeat, also going 5 innings, giving up 1 earned on 9 hits, walking 3 and striking out 5. Pat Gallagher (UConn) picked up the six-out save for Westfield. 

The Knights record improves to 11-8 overall and they will travel to Lynn on Sunday to face the North Shore Navigators at 4PM before returning to action at Holman Stadium Tuesday, when they host the Worcester Bravehearts at 6PM. As always, subscribe to the FCBL Network and catch all Silver Knights game action, and every game throughout the league, at FCBLNetwork.com.