Sophomore Dante Blancarte ripped his fourth career grand slam in today's matchup with Fitchburg State

FP
Handles Fitchburg State, 17-8
Laakso earns first collegiate win; Blancarte grand slam break game open

RINDGE, N.H. (April 18, 2002) - Franklin Pierce University
jumped out to an 8-1 win after three innings en route to a 17-8 victory over Fitchburg State College in non-conference baseball action at Crystal Field this afternoon.

Franklin Pierce jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead after one inning of play. Junior Dan Close (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) sparked the frame with a two-run triple off the wall in left. Sophomore Dante Blancarte (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) and freshman Bear Dunn (Charlton, Mass./Shepherd Hill) each added sacrifice flies to score the third and fourth runs.

Fitchburg State scored an unearned run in the third inning to cut the lead to 4-1 when junior Steve O’Brien drove in senior Steve Bowker, who reached on a leadoff error.

Junior Teddy Guardiani drove in a season-high three RBIs on the afternoon

FP
answered with four more in the bottom half of the frame. Sophomore Teddy Guardiani (Providence, R.I./Hudson (Mass.) Catholic) provided the big hit with a two-run single and junior Mike Callahan (Worcester, Mass./St. Peter Marian) added an RBI double.

Sophomore Steve Schultz sparked a three-run fourth inning with his first of two homeruns on the afternoon, a two-run shot to left-center. Sophomore Manny Torres followed that up with a solo shot which cut the FP
lead to 8-4.

The Ravens broke the game wide open in the fourth through sixth innings with nine runs. In the fourth, the first four batters reached before Blancarte ripped his first grand slam of the season (fourth career).

Schultz’s three-run homer in the seventh helped the Falcons cut the deficit to the final 17-8.

Blancarte finished the afternoon with a season-high six RBIs, while Guardiani hit three-for-five with a season-best three RBIs. Junior Paul McAuliffe (Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro) was 3-5 with two doubles and three runs scored, while Close finished 2-3 with a triple, two runs scored and two RBIs.

Freshman Gary Laakso earned his first collegiate victory in relief

Freshman right-hander Gary Laakso (Athol, Mass./Athol) earned his first collegiate victory (1-0) in relief of Close. Laakso allowed four earned runs (all in his final inning pitched) on four hits with five strikeouts and a walk in three innings of work. Close surrendered four runs, three earned, on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks in four innings.

Schultz was 2-2 on the afternoon with the two homers and five RBIs, while O’Brien was 3-5 with a double, a run scored and an RBI to lead the FSC offense.

Freshman Michael Heck suffered the loss, surrendering 12 earned runs on 11 hits in three-plus innings pitched.

FP
(16-13, 9-7 NE-10) opens a crucial four-game weekend series against the College of Saint Rose with a doubleheader in Albany, N.Y., on Saturday at noon. The two teams close out the weekend with a twinbill at Crystal Field on Sunday at noon. Fitchburg State (9-18) hosts Mass College of Liberal Arts for a doubleheader Saturday at noon.

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Fitchburg	0	0	1	3	0	0	4	0	0	8	12	5
FPC	4	0	4	4	2	3	0	0	x	17	15	1

Batteries:
FSC - Michael Heck, Jason Freeman (4th), Trevor Wilson (7th) and Brian McCarthy
FP
- Dan Close, Gary Laasko (5th), Anthony Leonelli (8th), Bryan Borowski (9th) and Eric Cavers.

WP: Laasko (1-0)
LP: Heck (0-5)
HR: Schultz 2 (5); Torres (4); Blancarte (5).