Franklin
Pierce Tops RINDGE,
N.H. (April 12, 2004) –
Franklin Pierce, ranked eighth in this week’s National Collegiate
Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II Northeast Region poll,
rallied from behind twice to post a dramatic 7-6 victory over No.
24-ranked Southern Connecticut State University in Northeast-10
Conference baseball action at Crystal Field this afternoon. Franklin Pierce junior Eric Cavers (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills) scored the winning run with two out in the bottom of the ninth when sophomore Steve Gatewood’s (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) pitch out on an intentional walk attempt sailed over the catcher to the backstop. The run capped the Ravens second rally of the day as sophomore Randy Fenton (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) drew a leadoff walk in the ninth and scored on an infield single by classmate Elliott Shea (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant).
Shea
finished 2-for-5 for the Ravens with a double, two RBI and a stolen
base, while freshman Vinny Pennell (Spencer, Mass./David Prouty)
was 1-3 with a pair of RBI. Cavers and Fenton both finished 1-3 with two
runs scored and an RBI. Cavers also belted his team-leading third home
run of the season and stole a base.
No Southern hitters registered multiple hits, but junior Jeremy
Terni (Uncasville, Conn./Montville) registered a three-run
double and classmate Mel Davis (Bristol, Conn./Eastern)
finished 1-2 with a pair of walks and a run scored.
Fenton also had an instrumental hit in the Franklin Pierce
seventh. With the Ravens trailing 4-1, he belted an RBI double to the
left-centerfield gap and scored on a two-run single by Pennell, which
knotted the score at 4-4. Shea doubled down the leftfield line to drive
in Pennell with the go-ahead run. Southern Connecticut regained the lead in the top of the eighth as Davis drew a leadoff walk and scored from third on a throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt at first base to knot the score at 5-5. Sophomore Joe Pagan (Bridgeport, Conn./Central) singled in senior Chris Nugent (Orange, Conn./Amity), who reached on an error, to put the Owls back in front.
The
Owls jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first despite
registering just one hit. Franklin Pierce starter Daniel Fournier
(Worcester, Mass./Holy Name) walked two and another Owl reached
base on a fielder’s choice before Terni smacked a base-clearing double
into the gap in left-center. Terni then scored when the Franklin Pierce
first baseman dropped a pickoff throw.
The Ravens got one run back in the third when Cavers belted a
solo home run to left with one away. Franklin Pierce junior right-hander Keith Brouillard (Westport, Mass./Somerset) picked up his fifth win of the season with two one-hit shutout innings of relief, fanning two. With the two scoreless frames, Brouillard extends his shutout streak to 17.1 innings and he has not allowed an earned run over his last 26.1 innings of work.
The
Ravens also got solid relief outings from sophomores Tyler
Cummings (South Paris, Maine/Oxford Hills) and Mike
Farrell (Russell, Mass./Gateway) in their first appearances
after long bouts with injury. Cummings pitched out of trouble in the
first and posted four shutout innings overall, allowing just two hits
with five strikeouts and no walks. Farrell fired three hitless innings
with a walk and a strikeout.
Gatewood took the loss for Southern Connecticut as he allowed the
one earned run on a hit with a walk and a strikeout on two-thirds of an
inning. Sophomore starter Joe Vingo (Harrison, N.Y./Lakeland) went
the first 6.1 innings and allowed five earned runs on six hits and three
walks with three strikeouts. Vingo was strong early, yielding just a run
on three hits over the first six and retired ten-straight after the
Cavers home run.
Franklin Pierce (13-15, 8-3 NE-10) returns to action on Wednesday
when it visits Saint Anselm College at 3:30 p.m. Southern Connecticut
(18-10, 9-4 NE-10) travels to American International tomorrow at 3:30
p.m. |
