Vikings Power Past Rivier 9-4

Recap, photo courtesy of Salem State

NORTBOROUGH, Mass. -- Mike Griffin (Hudson, N.H.) and Traverse Briana (Lynn, Mass.) each homered and Andrew McLaughlin (Peabody, Mass.) threw seven strong innings as Salem State picked up their first win of the season, defeating Rivier 9-4 at New England Baseball Complex on Tuesday afternoon.

McLaughlin scattered seven hits, allowing three runs – two earned—with six strikeouts and a walk as the Vikings even their record at 1-1.

Back-to-back walks set up the first Vikings' run in the second. A Matt Marquez (Salem, Mass.) sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third and Zac Duval (Middleton, Mass.) followed with a sacrifice fly to center field for a 1-0 Salem State lead.

Kyle O'Connor (Lynn, Mass.) put Salem State up 2-0 with an RBI single as the Vikings took advantage of two Rivier errors in the inning.  

The Raiders (1-8) cut the lead in half in the fourth as Fred Kazalski (Dracut, Mass.) turned a misplayed popup into a double. Kazlaski then scored when Jorge Martinez (Methuen, Mass.) reached on an error following his sacrifice bunt attempt.

A double steal by Luke Eggers (Duxbury, Mass.) and Mike Griffin (Hudson, N.H.) in the fourth scored Salem State's third run as Griffin beat the throw home after Eggers swiped second. 

The Vikings opened the game up in the fifth, scoring four runs to take a 7-1 lead. Briana led off with a double to deep left center and O'Connor notched his second RBI with a sharp single up the middle. A passed ball and RBI groundout plated two more runs before Griffin launched a home run to left center field.

Rivier starter Kyle Flanagan (Bradford, Mass.) lasted five innings, allowing seven runs – three earned – on six hits with three strikeouts.

The Raiders closed the gap to 7-3 in the seventh when Corey Cochran (Salem, N.H.) drilled a two-run home run.

Dylan McCormick (South Kingstown, R.I.) replaced McLaughlin in the eighth. Consecutive singles and a walk loaded the bases and another walk issued to Giovanni Covino (Methuen, Mass.) scored another Rivier run. Matthew Enos (Beverly, Mass.) relieved McCormick and ended the threat with a strikeout, keeping the Vikings on top.

Briana got both runs back for Salem State in the bottom of the inning, hitting a two-run shot to straightaway center, making the score 9-4

Despite allowing a one-out triple to A.J. Mele (Nashua, N.H.), Enos closed out the win with a nice play by Luke Eggers (Duxbury, Mass.) at third, who saved a run with a leaping snare of a hard hit line drive

Enos earned the save, going 1.1 innings, allowing one hit with two strikeouts.    

Briana finished 3-4 with two runs and two RBI. Griffin added two hits and two runs while O;Connor finished 2-4 with two rusn and two RBI.