Will Perkowski pitched six shutout innings vs.Worcester last Friday night at Historic Holman Stadium, an example of the great starting pitching the team has received this early season.. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – They’re finding out they don’t need 16 runs every game. Even though it would be nice.

The Nashua Silver Knights beat Norwich 16-0 last weekend but then scored just one run over the next 18 innings. But they discovered one thing: They can win with pitching and defense when needed.

“That’s how you win games,” Silver Knights manager Nick Guarino said. “I told them, you’ll win 85-90 percent of the games you play if you can pitch and play good defense and give up three or less earned runs.”

And pitching is what this team has a lot of at the start. Heading into late this week, the Silver Knights were lead the FCBL in pitching (team earned run average). Their ERA was 4.16, just ahead of New Britain’s 4.18, and those were the only two FCBL teams with ERAs under 5.00. Nashua comes out you with, among others, the likes of Exeter’s Cam Pwnicki, Goffstown’s Will Perkowski, and Nigel Cross out of Worcester, Mass. All three had been before this weekend as lights out as you can get. It’s the strongest starting pitching this early in a Knights season, or close to it, that these eyes have seen.

“Hopefully it keeps up,” Guarino said. “We’re going to make a couple of switches.”

One of which, after the Wednesday off-day, will come tonight when the Knights give reliever Brady Bump (Millersville Univiersity) his first start of the season at Westfield.

“Just to mix it up a little bit,” Guarino said. “He’s been pitching really well, we want to see how extended he can get.”

Perkowski will go Friday per usual and Nigel Cross on Saturday – back to back 6:30 p.m. games at Worcester. It will be Nashua’s first visit to Worcester this season. Tonight will already be its third trip to Westfield.

THE COMPETITON

Guarino says the Knights want to really go after the teams they feel will be close to them in the standings in the battle for the top four playoff spots.

“We want to try to beat the teams we’re going to be competing with for spots right now,” he said. “New Britain and Vermont are kind of getting up there. But we want to try to be able to beat the Westfields, the Lowells, the Norwiches, the Worcesters. So try to pitch those guys there. (Bump) has been pitching well, so I want to see him in a starting role.”

THE DIFFERENT SCHEDULE

The Silver Knights have Sunday off, their second of three Sundays off on the season. Then they are off a week from Saturday, different days because of the odd number of teams.

“I like it,” Guarino said. “I think it’s good. It helps us a little with the pitching, it’s nice to have a random day off. We’ll be well rested going into next week, which should be fun.”