BUZZARDS BAY, Mass -- The Buccaneers and Salem State Vikings opened their three-game conference series on Thursday on Taylor's Points and thanks to a grand slam from Brett Velzis, a two-run home run by Jake Quillen, and a complete game four-hitter for Nolan Kennedy, the Bucs opened the series with an 8-1 win.

The Basics

Final: Buccaneers 8, Vikings 1

Records: Maritime (15-13, 8-4)

               Salem (13-11, 6-6)

On the Mound

Maritime: Nolan Kennedy (W, 2-0): 9 IP | 4 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 2 BB | 3 K

Salem: Bobby Jellison (L, 0-3): 31 IP | 3 H | 5 R | 5 ER | 4 BB | 6 K

Inside The Numbers

Maritime

• Brett Velzis went 3-for-4 at the plate with a grand slam. Tucker Leslie, AJ Pietrafesa, Jake Houston, Jake Quillen, and Damon White each added one hit. Quillen's hit was his first-career home run.
• Velzis drove in four runs on the grand slam home run. Quillen drove in two on his home run. Grady Freeman and Pietrafesa also drove in one.
• Velzis and Houston scored twice. Leslie, Freeman, Quillen, and White all scored once.
• Pietrafesa added a double into the mix to make it three extra base hits for the Bucs.
• Damon White recorded a stolen base, his first, in the win.

Salem

• Mark Smith, Antonio Belgrove, Yabdriel Gonzalez, and Edward Field each had a hit.
• Belgrove drove in the only run of the game.
• Smith scored the only run.
• Smith also stole a base in the loss.

How It Happened

Salem struck first in the top of the first. Smith led off the game with a single, stole second and then was driven in on a well-executed hit-and-run by Belgrove to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead. 

The game remained 1-0 Salem until the bottom of the third. The Bucs had failed to record a hit through 2.2 innings until Velzis singled and Pietrafesa doubled to drive Velzis in and tie the game at 1-1. 

The fourth and fifth were pretty quick with no one scoring. Then, in the bottom of the sixth, the Bucs bats came alive. They loaded the bases and took the lead on a walk by Freeman that brought in Houston from third. With the bases loaded and two outs, Velzis stepped up and hit his 21st career home run, fifth of the season, third of the week, and drove in all four runs on the grand slam giving the Buccaneers a 6-1 advantage. 

Quillen added insurance in the bottom of the seventh with an opposite field home run to left, scoring himself and Houston, again, giving the Bucs an 8-1 lead in the seventh.

Kennedy continued to come out of the dugout each inning and shut down the Vikings. In the end, he earned his second victory of the season in a nine-inning, four hit, one-run victory for the Bucs as they won 8-1.

What's Next

Maritime and Salem meet in Salem on Saturday, April 20th for their conference doubleheader beginning at 1pm.