Mike Callahan went two-for-five with a double, a homer and two RBIs against Bryant

FP
Starts Key Series Against Bryant With Win, 7-2
Shank strong again on the mound and Cavers and Callahan spark offense

SMITHFIELD, R.I. (April 12, 2002) - Franklin Pierce University
got another strong pitching performance and banged out 13 hits to kick-off a key weekend series against Bryant College with a 7-2 victory in Northeast-10 Conference baseball action at the Bryant College Baseball Complex this afternoon.

Junior right-hander Chris Shank (Westminster, Mass./Oakmont Regional) was solid on the mound again for Franklin Pierce as he allowed just two earned runs on six hits with nine strikeouts and three walks in eight innings of work to pick up his fifth win of the season (5-1). The six hits against him are a season-high as are the three walks issued to Bryant this afternoon. However, the Bulldogs were able to do very little with the limited opportunities, striking for a pair of runs in the sixth inning after FP
had taken a 6-0 lead.

The Ravens jumped in front with a single run in the second inning as junior Mike Callahan

Junior Chris Shank stuck out nine batters in eight innings to pick up his fifth win of the season

(Worcester, Mass./St. Peter Marian) belted a two-out solo homer to leftfield.

Freshman Bear Dunn (Charlton, Mass./Shepherd Hill) drove in junior Dan Close (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) when he was hit by a Mike Florest pitch with the bases loaded in the third inning.

After a Paul McAuliffe (Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro) RBI single in the fourth frame, FP
took control of the game with three runs in the fifth. Dunn was hit by a pitch again to leadoff the frame and Callahan followed with an RBI double. Senior Eric Burney (Rockville, Conn./Rockville) drove Callahan in with a double to left and later scored on a fielding error.

Bryant’s two runs came in the sixth inning as sophomore B.J. Gagnon belted an RBI double to score freshman Mickey Ryan who drew a leadoff walk. Senior Dan England rounded out the inning with a sacrifice fly to drive home Jim Collins.

FP
capped off the scoring with a leadoff homer by freshman Eric Cavers (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills) in the ninth inning.

Five different FP
players posted two hits in the game, led by Callahan who finished two-for-five with a double, a homer and two RBIs. Senior Scott Loiseau (Worcester, Mass./St. Peter Marian) was also 2-5 extending his current hitting streak to 13 games, while sophomore Dante Blancarte (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) saw his team-leading string extend to 14 games. Burney finished 2-5 with two runs scored, a double and an RBI.

Florest suffered the loss (3-4) for Bryant as he allowed six runs, four earned, on ten hits with four strikeouts and no walks in five innings.

Sophomore Chris Dwyer was the lone Bulldog with multiple hits as he hit 2-4.

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FP	0	1	1	1	3	0	0	0	1	7	13	1
Bryant	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	7	5

Battery
FPC: Chris Shank, Greg Basile (9th) and Al Medeiros.
BC: Mike Florest, Jordan Copes (6th) and Jim Collins

WP: Shank (5-1)
LP: Florest (3-4)
HR: Cavers (4), Callahan (1).

FP
(13-10, 7-4 NE-10) and Bryant (19-13, 9-4 NE-10) return to the diamond tomorrow for a doubleheader at Crystal Field in Rindge at noon. The two teams wrap up their four-game weekend series on Sunday back in Smithfield at 1 p.m.