SOMERVILLE, MA – Lesley University (0-8) fell to Rivier College (1-7) in the Lynx first home game in program history, 6-1, Tuesday afternoon at Trum Field in non-league baseball play.
Kyle Bowser's (Newington, NH/Portsmouth) three-run home run in the seventh was the difference maker, as it put the Raiders on top 6-1, more than enough for starter Ford Coates (Raymond, NH.Raymond), who struck out 14 in going all nine innings, scattering six hits.
Bowser went 2-for-5 with four RBIs, and Kevin Weaver (Hudson, NH/Alverine) went 2-for-5 with two runs scored in pacing the Raiders offense.
For Lesley, freshman shortstop Aqib Shah (Watertown, MA/Watertown) went 2-for-2 with a double, a walk and an RBI sac fly, lifting his average to a team-best .450 through eight games.
Lynx starter Greg Anglin (Milton, MA/Milton) cruised through the first two innings and stranded a pair in both the third and fifth. Raiders righty Coates was even better through five, fanning seven and forcing six ground ball outs in doing his part to keep the game scoreless.
Rivier finally got a hold of Anglin in the sixth, as Romero led off with a long double high off the fence in left. After a Weaver single, Romero scored the game's first run on a Bowser suicide squeeze.
Attempting to swipe third base on the front end of a double steal, Weaver took third and cruised home after Jeff Gonzalez's throw to third sailed up the line in left field, putting the Raiders up 2-0.
Lesley answered immediately in the bottom of the frame, as Ryan Genua (Prospect, CT/Woodland) laced an opposite-field double to left-center, moving to third on a Coates wild pitch. Shah (Watertown, MA/Watertown) capped a 10-pitch at-bat with a line drive sacrifice fly to left, plating Genua and cutting the margin in half at 2-1 after six.
A Peter Plansky error on a two-out grounder scored Nathan Knoetig (Manchester, NH/West), but which led to Bowser's blast one batter later, a towering shot that cleared the fence in left that distanced Rivier, now ahead 6-1 mid-seventh.
Anglin allowed 11 hits but only one earned run over his eight innings, striking out five. Nick Dolan (Strafford, NH/Bishop Brady) worked a scoreless ninth for the Lynx.
Lesley will travel to Nashua for a New England Collegiate Conference double header at Daniel Webster on Saturday, while Rivier plays host to Plymouth State on Thursday.
R H E
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Rivier.............. 000 002 400 - 6 12 0
Lesley University... 000 001 000 - 1 6 4
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E - Plansky; Gonzalez; Santos; Anglin. DP - Lesley 1. LOB - RIV 7; Lesley 7.
2B - Romero(2); Genua(1); Shah(2). HR - Bowser(2). HBP - Colon. SF - Shah.
SB - Weaver(2); Bowser(5); Knezevic(2). CS - Weaver(2); Shah(2).
Win - Coates (1-1). Loss - Anglin (0-2). Save - None.
