Baseball Bested by Rivier, 7-5

NASHUA, N.H. – Suffolk baseball dropped a road non-conference contest to Rivier on Wednesday afternoon at Harvey Woods Field, 7-5.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 5 | Rivier 7
RECORDS: Suffolk (6-23) |Rivier (10-20) 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Rivier struck first in the bottom of the opening inning, scoring Colton Colleran on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly off the bat of David Miller to take a 1-0 lead.
• The Raiders extended their advantage in the second inning with a Colleran RBI groundout and a two-run double from Liam Stott, building a 4-0 lead after two.
• Suffolk got on the board in the third when Shayne King scored on a Sam Armbruster sacrifice fly to right field, trimming the deficit to 4-1.
• The Rams continued to chip away in the sixth, as Ross Treubig delivered an RBI single to left, scoring Sebastian Lampert, who doubled earlier in the frame, to make it 4-2.
• Suffolk rallied to tie the game in the seventh. Jack Mihalchik was hit by a pitch, Colin Flynn walked, and Cole Hilliard executed a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position. Armbruster then delivered again, singling home both runners to even the score at 4-4.
• Rivier answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning, regaining the lead with a wild pitch and an RBI play off a hard-hit ball by Alex Gallicano that resulted in an error, pushing the Raiders ahead 6-4.
• The Raiders added an insurance run in the eighth on an RBI single from Sebastien Reis to extend the margin to 7-4.
• Suffolk mounted one final push in the ninth after back-to-back walks. Noah Greco drove in Luke Thornton with a groundout, but the comeback fell short as Rivier held on for the 7-5 win. 

PITCHERS PICTURE

• Nick Rubin got the start for the Rams, tossing 6.0 innings with seven strikeouts while allowing four earned runs on six hits and four walks.
• Joey Smith took the loss in relief after surrendering two earned runs on two hits and two walks with two strikeouts in 1.0 inning pitched, while Jackson Garcia followed with 1.0 inning of relief, allowing one earned run on one hit and two walks.
• Sean Kuhlhoff earned the win for Rivier with 3.0 scoreless innings, allowing four hits.
• Sam Kalvas and Hunter Malkin combined for 2.0 scoreless innings of relief, with Malkin allowing one hit with one strikeout.
• Connor Mottram gave up one earned run on two hits with one strikeout in 1.0 inning before Damon Reyes allowed two earned runs on two hits and one walk in 0.2 innings pitched.
• Travis McKeen and Ty Baker closed out the game for the Raiders, with McKeen striking out three in a scoreless inning and Baker allowing one earned run while striking out two over the final frame.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Armbruster led Suffolk offensively, going 2-for-4 with three RBI.
• Lampert and Hilliard each recorded two-hit performances, with Lampert also scoring a run.
• Treubig added a hit and an RBI, as Greco accounted for Suffolk's final RBI.
• Mihalchik, Colin Flynn, Thornton, and King each recorded a hit and a run scored.
• Despite the loss, Suffolk outhit Rivier, 11-9.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk closes out its three-day stretch with a home game against Salem State on Thursday, April 23 at 3:30 p.m. at East Boston Memorial Park.