Norwich Suffers Second Consecutive Loss to Silver Knights
The Norwich Sea Unicorns dropped their Tuesday night affair with the Nashua Silver Knights, falling 6-4. Norwich’s defeat is their second straight against Nashua at home and drops the Sea Unicorns to 20-14.
It was a pitcher’s duel between Norwich starter Liam Carroll and Nashua starter Cam Keaveney holding both offenses scoreless until the 4th inning. Nashua struck first, taking a 2-0 lead plating a pair of runs in the top of the 4th. Owen Carey recorded the first hit of the night for Nashua with one away in the frame. Carroll began his night allowing just one base runner through 3.1 innings of work before the Nashua first baseman singled into center field. Carey later advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch. Next, a bouncing ball to the Norwich shortstop that he decided to fire to 3rd to nail down the lead baserunner advancing from 2nd, but was ruled safe, provided the visitors runners at the corners with still one out. The Silver Knights took advantage of the opportunity thanks to Drew Loikits, who smashed a bases clearing double to the wall in left. An incredible play from Trey Porter in center field throwing out the base runner trying to score from second on a base hit gave Norwich a critical second out in the inning and prevented Nashua from further extending their lead. Carroll retired the next batter he faced to escape the situation and complete his outing.
Norwich was held to one hit through 5 innings by Nashua starter Cam Keaveney, who retired 16 consecutive Sea Unicorns after surrendering a lead off base hit. The Sea Unicorns put the pressure on Keaveney when Alex Irizarry crushed a one out double into the right center field gap. Irizarry’s double spelled the end of the night for Keaveney, who tossed 5.1 innings of 2-hit baseball while striking out 5. Nashua elected to make a pitching change with Norwich threatening in the home 6th. The tables quickly turned when Irizarry was caught stealing 3rd base for the second out in the inning. A pop out to the catcher later ended the inning and left Norwich still in search of any offense.
The Sea Unicorns finally cashed in their first run of the night in the 7th to slice the Nashua lead in half. Trey Porter began the home 7th with a double thanks to some help from the 3rd base bag that deflected the baseball into left field and over the head of the Silver Knights third baseman. A fielder’s choice ground out moved Porter 90 feet, and later Connor Lane brought home the Norwich center fielder with a sacrifice fly to help get Norwich on the board. The RBI for Lane is his 5th in 2 games.
A 4-run 8th inning was the difference last night, as once again Nashua was able to capitalize on defensive miscues from the Norwich defense. In the inning, Nashua struck for 4 runs on 4 hits and were aided by a pair of errors to take a commanding 6-1 lead. Nashua began the frame with a single and a ground rule double placing runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Reliever Callen Powers was able to locate his first out in the inning thanks to a strikeout. An error committed by the Norwich third baseman loaded the bases for Nashua. The second double of the frame produced the first 2 runs of the inning for the visitors. An error by the Norwich shortstop brought home the 3rd run of the inning for Nashua and later the 4th hit of the inning provided the Silver Knights with their 4th run of the 8th inning.
Norwich responded with 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, but unfortunately that would be the closest Norwich would come in their late-inning comeback effort. The Sea Unicorns were guided by command trouble from the Nashua pitchin,g who needed 3 relievers in the inning to preserve their lead. Overall, Nashua pitching issued a pair of walks and plunked a pair of Sea Unicorns while only allowing one hit in the frame. The lone hit for Norwich was a one out double wired down the right field line by newcomer Chris DiPrima. The Yale product’s first hit as a Sea Unicorn also led to his first RBI of the summer bringing home Owen Turner from 1st. Ultimately, Nashua reliever Andrew Koshy secured the victory for the visitors recording the final 4 outs.
The Sea Unicorns are back in action tonight on the road to close out a 3-game set against the Silver Knights. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST from Holman Stadium.