NORTHFIELD, Vt. – It was a landmark day for junior pitcher
Matt Ingraffia (Lake Grove, N.Y.) in the latter end of Saturday afternoon's doubleheader with Rivier.
The left-handed starter completed seven innings of work allowing two runs to come home, walking two, and striking out thirteen. With those thirteen strikeouts, Ingraffia eclipsed the 100-strikeout milestone for his career and picked up his first win of the season.
The Cadet bats held up their end of the bargain coming alive in the sixth, which began with the Raiders holding a 2-1 lead. With one out,
Hayden Roberge (Middlesex, Vt.) doubled over the center fielder's head. After stealing third, Roberge came home two batters later thanks to an RBI single by
Ryland Richardson (Windsor, Vt.) to tie the game. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded,
Tyler Callahan (Arlington, Mass.) broke the tie bringing home two runs on a single to centerfield.
The Norwich barrage continued in the seventh which began with a leadoff, pinch hit triple by
Owen Silk (North Haven, Conn.). The next batter,
Geffen Franus (Leesburgh, Va.) laced an RBI double to bring home Silk. A single by Roberge moved Franus to third who would be driven home by a
Brock Carpenter (East Berlin, Pa.) single. With runners on first and second, Richardson would hit the second triple of the inning for the Cadets clearing the bases. Silk would hit another triple in the eighth, while Richardson finished the second game going three for three with four RBIs.
This performance followed an 8-5 Rivier victory in the first game. Norwich held a 3-1 lead going into the fourth, including a second inning home run by
Zeb Perrault (Chelsea, Vt.). In the fourth, the Raiders brought home five runs to take a 6-3 lead. The Cadets scored two in the bottom half of the inning on doubles by Callahan and
Jakob Hayes (Arlington, Texas) to get within one. However, Rivier pushed across two more runs in the fifth to extend the lead.
Norwich will continue conference play when they travel to Albertus Magnus on April 25 with the doubleheader getting started at 2 PM.