Haverhill, MA – In what has become a heated rivalry, this weekend’s games between the Fisher Baseball team and Briarcliffe College was intense. On the first day of action, Briarcliffe took two games as they sneaked out a 5-3 win versus junior Patrick Shanahan (Haverhill, MA) and beat sophomore Kevin Michael (Ipswich, MA) in game two by a final of 3-1. Offensively, senior Tom Engelhardt (Bradford, MA) was 4 for 7 with 3 RBI’s. Sophomore Mike Oliveira (Tewksbury, MA) recorded a multi-hit game in game two by going 2 for 4. Pitching wise, Shanahan threw 7 innings allowing 5 runs on 9 hits while striking out 5. In game two, Micheal went the distance (7 innings) allowing just 3 runs on 7 hits and retiring 3 Briarcliffe batters by way of the K.
Day Two was a different story for Fisher College. Fueled by Briarcliffe’s unsportsman like anticts after day one, Fisher roared back. In the first game, junior Sammy Luciano (Union City, NJ) threw a gem. He scattered 5 hits over 7 innings and fanned 5. Freshman Austin Brodie (Haverhill, MA) came on in relief during the extra frames and earned the win. He pitched 2 innings and struck out one. In the bottom of the 9th inning, junior Edwin Pena (Union City, NJ) led off with a hit, senior Jesse Avalos (Haverhill, MA) came off the bench and laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance Pena to second. Head Coach Scott Dulin used his bench one more time as sophomore Matthew McDougal-Shaver (Minneapolis, MN) hit a hard ground ball to the shortstop, Pena advanced to third on that play. The heroics were left up to junior Zach Thompson (Salem, MA). He promptly hit an 0-2 pitch up the middle to center which scored Pena for the game winner. Final score was 3-2 Fisher College. Game two, Fisher College didn’t let Briarcliffe have a chance as they scored 10 runs in a 10-1 rout. Englehardt went 4 for 4 with 4 doubles, 2 RBI’s and 4 runs scored. Freshman Gary Lunetta (North Andover, MA) went 2 for 4 with a double and senior Eddy Delcarmen (Boston, MA) walked 3 times.
Fisher travels to Farmington, Maine where they will take on the Beavers of the University of Maine at Farmington in a double header. Game time is slated for 12pm.
