Franklin
Pierce Sweeps Stonehill RINDGE,
N.H. (April 24, 2004) –
Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 6 in this week’s National Collegiate
Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II Northeast Region poll,
scored in its last at bat twice to sweep a key Northeast-10 Conference
baseball doubleheader from Stonehill College, ranked No. 4 in the
region, at Crystal Field this afternoon. Sophomore Nick Panza (Albany, N.Y./Colonie Central) drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth with a pinch-hit bloop single behind second base as Franklin Pierce took game one, 5-4. Sophomore Mike Chambers (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) smacked an RBI double with one out in the bottom of the ninth to cap a Ravens rally from a 5-2 deficit for a 6-5 victory in the nightcap.
Sophomore
right-hander Tyler Cummings (South Paris, Maine/Oxford Hills)
picked up the win in both contests as he pitched a combined five innings
of no-hit shutout relief with no walks and seven strikeouts, facing the
minimum batters for the day.
Franklin Pierce junior Eric
Cavers (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills) hit for the cycle on the
afternoon, as he was a combined 5-for-8 with a double, triple, home run,
two stolen bases, four runs scored and two RBI.
The wins are a record tenth and 11th-straight
for Franklin Pierce, which has now won 13-straight at home dating back
to last season, including a 9-0 clip this season. In game one, Panza’s pinch-hit single capped an inning in which Franklin Pierce did all its damage with two out. Freshman Garrett Olson (Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) walked and advanced to third on a single by classmate Kim Hart (Gorham, Maine/Gorham). Panza then followed with his pinch-hit bloop single to score Olson with the winning run.
Sophomore
Elliott Shea (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) paced the Ravens in
game one as he hit 3-for-5 with a double, stolen base and RBI. The steal
was his Conference-leading 20th of the season (on as many
attempts) to match the program’s single-season mark set by Cavers in
2003.
Olson finished 2-3 with a pair of
walks, a double and RBI, while Cavers was 2-4 with a triple, stolen base
and RBI.
Cummings pitched a scoreless ninth,
striking out two of the three batters he faced, to pick up his first win
of the day (2-2). Junior right-hander Bryan Borowski (Clarksburg,
Mass./Drury) went the first eight for the Ravens and allowed
four runs, two earned, on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts. Senior Jason Reynolds (Boca Raton, Fla./New Hampton) was the lone Stonehill batter with multiple hits as he finished 2-4 with an RBI. Seniors Mike Schlittler (Needham, Mass./Xavarian) and Dan Mattia
(Framingham,
Mass./Marian) were both 1-3, while classmate Pat Driscoll
(Somerset, Mass./Somerset) chipped in two RBI.
Franklin Pierce jumped out to a 3-0
lead after two innings, but Stonehill drew within a run with a pair in
the third as Driscoll laced a two-run single through the right side. The
Ravens extended its lead to 4-2 in the fourth on an RBI single to center
by Shea.
Stonehill knotted the score with a pair
of unearned runs in the sixth thanks to three Franklin Pierce errors.
Borowski retired the first two batters harmlessly to open the inning and
appeared to have the Chieftains down in order, but leftfielder Vinny
Pennell (Spencer, Mass./David Prouty) dropped a fly ball, then
tried to make a diving catch on the next batter to allow Tim Flynn
(Clifton Park, N.Y./Albany Academy), who reached on the first
error, to score as the ball got by Pennell and rolled to the fence. The
second run scored when Schlittler reached on an error at third. GAME ONE: Boxscore & Play-by-Play
In
the nightcap, Chambers drilled a two-run double that one-hopped the
fence in left to score Shea, who lined a one-out double down the
leftfield line to spark the frame. Chambers’ double came after
Stonehill chose to intentionally walk the Ravens designated hitter, Dante
Blancarte (South Berwick, Maine/Amesbury (Mass.)) for the second
time in the game, to set up a double play.
Cavers led the Ravens offense, as he
was 3-4 with a double, home run, stolen base, three runs scored and an
RBI in game two. Hart was 2-4, while Shea finished 2-5 with a double and
RBI. Chambers finished 1-4 with two RBI.
Cummings picked up his second win of
the day (3-2) with four innings of no-hit shutout relief, fanning five
and walking none. Junior Ryan Bowling (Cedar Springs, Mich./Cedar
Springs) went the first five and yielded five runs, just two
earned, on eight hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
Schlittler and freshman Matthew
Dudley (Norton, Mass./Norton) were both 2-4 with a run scored
and RBI for Stonehill in game two. Dudley also doubled. Driscoll hit 2-4
with an RBI, while sophomore Sean Lawrence (New Rochelle, N.Y./Fordham
Prep) was 1-3 with an RBI.
Schlittler was pinned with the loss
(2-1) as he allowed two earned runs on five hits and two walks with
three strikeouts in two innings of relief work for the Chieftains.
Sophomore Dean Chiusano (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa)
went the first 6.1 innings and yielded four runs, three earned, on five
hits and three walks with six strikeouts.
Stonehill led 5-2 after scoring a pair
of runs in the sixth. Dudley singled through the right side to score
Reynolds who reached on a dropped popup at first base. Schlittler scored
on a squeeze bunt by senior Joe Mastromonaco (Carmel, N.Y./Carmel).
The Ravens knotted the score with a
three-run seventh. Sophomore Mike Feetham (Quincy, Mass./North
Quincy) doubled down the rightfield line to lead off the inning,
advanced to third on a passed ball, and scored on a ground out to
second. Cavers kept the inning alive with a broken bat single through
the left side and Shea drove in a run with a single up the middle.
Chambers knotted the score with a sacrifice fly to center after
Blancarte was intentionally walked. GAME
TWO: Boxscore & Play-by-Play Franklin Pierce (24-16, 19-4 NE-10) and Stonehill (25-13, 17-9 NE-10) round out their three-game weekend series tomorrow afternoon in Easton, Mass., at 1 p.m. |
