Offensive-minded Knights back on track with three-game win streak

04/24/2023

With a big win Thursday and a doubleheader forfeit this weekend, the Community College of Rhode Island baseball team has now won three consecutive games and eight of its last 12 heading into the stretch run of the 2023 regular season.

CCRI beat Bunker Hill Community College 19-4 in a five-inning game Thursday on the road and the Bulldogs forfeited both games of Saturday’s scheduled doubleheader at Whitey Fell Field, leaving the Knights at 17-13 overall and an impressive 13-2 in Region XXI play.

With eight games remaining in the regular season, the Knights are within striking distance of recording 20 or more wins for the fourth time in the last five years. They return to action next Wednesday, April 26 with a doubleheader at New Hampshire Technical Institute beginning at 2 pm.

The Knights are averaging 8.4 runs per game in 2023 and have scored 10 or more runs eight times, including 40 against Roxbury Community College on March 30. They’re batting .342 as a team with an impressive .438 on-base percentage, led by sophomore outfielder Sam Laurie (Narragansett, RI), who sports a team-best .448 average with 23 RBI in 26 games. Freshman catcher Josh Lincourt (North Kingstown, RI) has driven in a team-high 26 runs and leads the team with three home runs in addition to a .384 batting average.

On the mound, freshmen Nate Kelly (Lincoln, RI) and Calvin Battersby (West Warwick, RI) have been sensational; in five starts, Kelly is 2-2 with a 3.74 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 32 2/3 innings while Battersby has posted a team-best 3.03 ERA in five starts with two wins – both complete-game efforts. Sophomore co-captain Marcus Botelho (Portsmouth, RI) has anchored the bullpen with three saves and eight strikeouts in seven appearances.

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