BURLINGTON, VT — Jack Kelliher continued Vermont’s streak of strong starting pitching with five shutout innings and Leandro Guevara reached base safely all five plate appearances with three hits, two hit by pitches and three RBI to lead the Lake Monsters to their fifth straight victory with a 7-1 win over the Nashua Silver Knights Sunday evening at historic Centennial Field.
Lake Monsters scored three unearned runs in the third inning, the first scoring on a two-out fielding error and the other two on a Thomas O’Connell (Virginia) two-run double. Kelliher (Northern Essex) gave up back-to-back two-out singles in the first and a one-out single in the second inning before retiring the final 11 batters he faced (finished outing with no walks and seven strikeouts).
Vermont added single runs in the fourth on a Will Mahala (Virginia) sacrifice fly and sixth inning on a Guevara RBI single to center for a 5-0 lead. Guevara, who also singled in the third inning, smashed a two-run double to left-center in the eighth to build the advantage to 7-1.
Nate Fletcher (Rhode Island), Emmet Christian (Tufts) and Zander Teator (Babson) each tossed a scoreless inning of relief, while Matt Higgins (Colby) allowed two hits and Nashua’s only run in the eighth on an RBI fielder’s choice.
MONSTER PERFORMANCE
* Kelleher (W) 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 SO
*Guevara 3-for-3, 2 HBP, R, 2B, 3 RBI
* O’Connell 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
* Vermont (15-8) has won 5 straight games for the 2nd time this season (June 4-8), winning each of the last 5 games after dropping 1st game of 6-game homestand
* Lake Monsters drew 13,808 to Centennial this week, an average of 2,301 for the 6 game
* Vermont starting pitchers during 6-game homestand had 0.93 ERA (29 IP, 16 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 11 BB, 24 SO) including just 1 ER over the last 24 innings (0.38 ERA)
* Cooper Berry (Pomona Pitzer) went 2-for-4 with 2 runs and ha hit safely in 5 straight (7-for-18)
Next Game: Tuesday vs. Norwich, 6:30pm
Next Home Game: Wednesday vs, Nashua, 6:35[pm