PSU Baseball Blasts Past Norwich

Plymouth, N.H.-The Plymouth State University Baseball team launched an offensive attack against Norwich University on Monday afternoon (4/9), defeating the Anchormen at Panther Field, 17-7, in non-conference action. Because of the ten-run rule, the game was stopped after seven innings.

            "Everyone on the team was fired up," said sophomore Jeff Runnals (Wolfeboro, N.H.) who collected his first win of the season on the mound for the Panthers, letting up six runs on four hits against Norwich. PSU looked eager to rebound following a pair of disappointing losses over the weekend in a Little East Conference double-header against Rhode Island College on Saturday (4/7). "The bats really came alive today which was something we needed," Runnals said. No bat came more alive on Monday than Mike Cappiello's (Westfield, N.J.), who recorded five runs batted in (RBI's) on three hits, including a three-run homerun in the second inning. The homer was Cappiello's fourth of the season (team-leading). Senior Luke Merrill (Pittsburg, N.H.) followed his teammate's pace by knocking in a two-run homerun of his own and also going 3-for-3 on the afternoon.

Junior Rew Wilson (Niantic, Conn.) made a splash, adding to the PSU side of the scoreboard with three RBI's, and nearly completing the cycle, hitting a single, double and a triple. "Simply, we scored runs. Got on the scoreboard early and kept the lead," said PSU freshman Jeff Reynolds (Nashua, N.H.). Norwich attempted a comeback, scoring six runs in the fourth inning, and one in the fifth to cut the lead to ten. "We had one bad inning where we were losing focus and that showed on the scoreboard," said Reynolds. The Panther's regained their focus, settled down, and took the impressive victory after seven innings.

With the win, the Plymouth State University Baseball team becomes 10-10 overall and 1-3 within the Little East Conference (LEC). Norwich falls to 3-21 on the season. PSU will look to continue its offensive dominance when they play LEC-rival Keene State College later on in the week. "Keene is a good team so it'll be a great test to see what we are made of," Reynolds said. Rew Wilson will be making the start, pitching for the Panthers. "Going into Keene is always tough. We know we can play with everybody and we've showed that throughout the season so far, but we also know we have to bring our best game whenever we play Keene, or anyone else in the conference," said Runnals. Keene State College provided trouble for the Panthers last season, but PSU Baseball is hopeful that this season will be different. "If we show up to play the way we did today then I like our chances no matter who we play," said Runnals. The confidence for the green and white seems to have been regained as they look to push even further into playoff contention.