Pilgrims off to best start in recent history
New England College baseball returned from their spring trip with a winning record of 4-3. The four wins is the best start in over twelve seasons for the Pilgrims who came up huge beating in-region opponents Norwich University and Oneonta State.
The Pilgrims opened their trip scoring eight runs in the final two innings to beat Franciscan University 9-5. NEC would loose their next two games falling to Clarion College 14-6 and Washington College 15-3. The Pilgrims would battle back to win their next two games beating Norwich 9-2 and coming form behind to beat St. Mary’s College of Maryland 10-8. NEC would finish their trip splitting a double header with Oneonta State losing 7-5 in game one but beating them 6-3 in the second game.
Leading the way on offense last week for the Pilgrims was junior Joe Clark. Clark (Newcastle, Maine) started all seven games finishing the week hitting .552 with three doubles, a triple and six runs scored. Clark led the team in runs batted in with 11 and slugging percentage hitting .724. Junior Jordan Morgan (E. Weymouth, Mass.) hit .333 in six games for the Pilgrims with three doubles and six runs batted in. Sophomore Jimmy Hoyt (Rochester, N.H.) started all seven games and scored a team-high 11 runs and was an impressive 6-for-6 on the base paths. Senior Dan Pratt (Concord, N.H.) also started all seven games and hit .333 for the week with two doubles and seven runs batted in.
On the mound the Pilgrims were led by first-year pitcher Blake Boyer. Boyer (Taunton, Mass.) appeared in three games for the Pilgrims and finished the week with a record of 1-1. Boyer allowed just five earned runs finishing with an ERA of 3.75 and struck out six. Senior Phillip Achee (Clinton, Conn.) picked up two saves on the week allowing no runs in three innings of work and striking out four.
The Pilgrims will return to action on Thursday, Mar. 20 when they travel to take on non-conference opponent Salem State at 3:00 p.m.
