Knights

Sunday, June 23, 2024

By: Dan Allison | Silver Knights media relations

Sunday was a tale of two different performances for the Silver Knights as they split a doubleheader with the Westfield Starfires 16-11 and 4-2. Nashua lit up the scoreboard for 16 runs in their emphatic game one victory before getting cut down to size in game two by Westfield pitching. 

A nine-run inning in the third inning catapulted the Knights to the big offensive output, with UMass Lowell’s River Hart highlighting the frame with a three-run shot to left. Hart now extends his league-leading total with five home runs. To put Hart’s hot start in perspective, Shane McNamara of the 2023 Silver Knights led the team in home runs with five through 55 games. Hart has now tied that total through just 15.

Penn State’s Adin Zorn and UMass Lowell’s Scott Donahue added RBI knocks in the third, capitalizing on a struggling Westfield pitching staff and defense in the nine-run inning.

Westfield tried to stage a comeback with five runs in the sixth, but RBI doubles from Stonehill’s Nate Kearney and Keene State’s Tommy Ahlers held the Starfires off. Zorn, Hart, and Ahlers posted three RBI games, with Kearney adding two to his three-hit performance.

Issues on the mound for Nashua allowed the Starfires to decrease the deficit, but the Knights’ lineup was too much in the end with a monumental 16-run performance. A win in game one marked three straight for the Silver Knights looking to make it four heading into game two.

Game Two

Despite totaling a plethora of runs not even an hour ago, the Silver Knights offense simmered down in game two in a 4-2 loss. Keene State’s Jake Jachym helped a Westfield staff that struggled in the first matchup, tossing four and ⅔ innings with two earned runs in the seven-inning affair.

Vanderbilt’s Aidan O’Connell cruised through the first two frames for the Knights before back-to-back singles in the third opened up the scoring 1-0 Westfield. 

Nashua wasted no time responding with Southern New Hampshire’s Nater Wachter ripping an RBI double. Rutgers’ Owen Carey followed Wachter with an RBI sacrifice fly to grab the Knights the lead.

A scoreless two-inning start quickly turned into both teams going blow for blow, with the Starfires posting one in the fourth to tie it back up. In the fifth, some unfortunate bounces for Dayton’s Ben Dean gave the Starfires the bases loaded. Needing just one more out to get out of it, Dean walked in a run to give Westfield the lead 3-2.

Westfield pushed another run across to make it 4-2, with the Knights not being able to overcome the deficit on offense. Carey singled to keep the final frame alive with the tying run coming to the plate, but nothing came of it with Nashua falling to give them a 1-1 record on the day.

Even with a loss to cap off the week, the Silver Knights are making moves in the right direction with a 4-3 week. Now 6-4 in their last 10, Nashua will look to keep the momentum going after the off-day with another meeting with Westfield on Tuesday. 

Westfield and the Knights are set for a 6:00 PM first pitch on Tuesday at Historic Holman Stadium.