Paul McAuliffe hit a combined 6-8 with a double, a homerun, five runs scored and five RBIs to lead the FP offense against Southern New Hampshire

FP
Sweeps Southern New Hampshire
Shank masterful in game one with career-high 17 strikeouts Ravens bomb Penmen in nightcap behind ten-run second inning

RINDGE, N.H. (April 7, 2002) - Franklin Pierce University
swept a doubleheader with instate rival Southern New Hampshire University in Northeast-10 Conference baseball action at Crystal Field this afternoon. Franklin Pierce registered a 7-4 decision in game one, before exploding for a 17-6 triumph in the nightcap.

In the first game, junior righthander Chris Shank (Westminster, Mass./Oakmont Regional) made a run at former FP
lefthander Justin Blood’s Conference and school record of 20 strikeouts set against SNHU last season as he fanned a career-high 17 to lead the Ravens to victory. Shank (4-1) yielded four runs, just two earned, on five hits and just one walk to earn his fourth win and third complete game of the season. He struck out the side five times on the afternoon and fanned seven in a row during one stretch.

Southern New Hampshire did strike first as it jumped ahead 2-0 in the first inning, thanks to a pair of FP
errors. Senior Nick Nugent rapped an RBI single during the frame.

Chris Shank fanned a career-high 17 SNHU batters to lead FP to the game one win

The Ravens answered in the third with three runs as junior Paul McAuliffe (Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro) singled to score senior Scott Loiseau (Worcester, Mass./St. Peter Marian) who led off the inning with a double. Sophomore Dante Blancarte (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) followed three batters later with a two-run double to put FP
up 3-2.

Southern New Hampshire knotted the score in the sixth as senior Ryan Paradise led off with a double and later scored when freshman Mike Bernard reached on a fielder’s choice.

The Ravens regained the lead for good in the seventh with four runs. After the first three batters reached base, McAuliffe scored on a Jason Paul wild pitch and then freshman Bear Dunn (Charlton, Mass./Shepherd Hills) drove in a pair with a single up the middle.

Dunn later scored FPC’s final run on a delayed steal with Mike Callahan (Worcester, Mass./St. Peter Marian). Dunn batted two-for-four with a stolen base and two RBIs to spark the FP
offense. McAuliffe finished 2-3 with a steal, two runs scored and an RBI, while Blancarte hit 1-4 with a double and two RBIs. Callahan and freshman Eric Cavers (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills) each added a pair of hits, including a double for Callahan.

Paul suffered the loss for SNHU as he allowed seven earned runs on nine hits with six strikeouts and four walks in 6.1 innings of work.

Paradise hit 2-4 with a double and a run scored, while Bernard was 1-4 with a homerun, two RBIs and two runs scored.

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
SNHU	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	4	5	0
FPC	0	0	3	0	0	0	4	0	x	7	11	4

Battery
SNHU: Jason Paul, Bill Forbes and Jason Weaver
FPC: Chris Shank and Al Medeiros

WP: Shank (4-1)
LP: Paul (0-3)
HR: Bernard (1)

In the nightcap, FP
exploded for ten runs in the second inning to expand a 1-0 lead and cruise to a 17-5 victory in eight innings.

McAuliffe started things with a two-run single up the middle then Blancarte reached on a fielder’s choice that scored two more runs. After a two-run single to rightfield by senior Eric Burney (Rockville, Conn./Rockville), Loiseau capped the inning with a two-run homer to leftfield.

SNHU got four runs back in the third inning, sparked by a leadoff homer by junior Eric Kramer and a two-run single by Bernard.

Freshman Mike MacSwain was 5-5 with a stolen base and two RBIs in the nightcap.

FP
capped things off with a five-run eighth as the Ravens hit for the cycle as a team in the frame. Loiseau led off the inning with a triple, followed by a McAuliffe homer. Cavers, Dan Close (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) and Blancarte followed with doubles before freshman Mike MacSwain (Stoughton, Mass./Coyle Cassidy) capped the cycle with an RBI single.

Close earned his first win of the season (1-1) as he allowed six runs, five earned, on seven hits with a career-high 11 strikeouts and four walks in 6.1 innings of work.

MacSwain finished the game hitting a perfect 5-5 with a stolen base, two runs scored and two RBIs. McAuliffe was 4-5 with a double, a homer, three runs scored and four RBIs, while Blancarte was 2-5 with a double, two runs scored and three RBIs. Callahan also finished with three RBIs, while Loiseau, Close and Burney all posted two hits.

Sophomore Aaron Jansen was the lone Penmen batter with multiple hits as he hit 3-3 with a run scored. Bernard and senior Steve Prymak each chipped in two RBIs.

Sophomore Jason Woodward suffered the loss as he allowed one earned run on two hits with a strikeout and a walk in just one inning before being lifted prior to the second.

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	R	H	E
SNHU	0	0	4	0	0	0	2	0	6	8	2
FPC	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	17	20	3

Battery
SNHU: Jason Woodward, Dustin Webb, Jerome Harty, Ray Powers and Steve Kramer
FPC: Dan Close, Greg Basile and Eric Cavers

WP: Close (1-1)
LP: Woodward (2-3)
HR: Kramer (1); Loiseau (1); McAuliffe (2)

FP
(11-8, 6-2 NE-10) looks to extend its season-long winning streak to five games when it hosts UMass Lowell for a key Conference game Monday afternoon at 3 p.m. Southern New Hampshire (4-15, 1-9 NE-10) returns to the diamond on Tuesday when it hosts Assumption College for a doubleheader at 1:30 p.m.