Saint
Rose Hampers ALBANY,
N.Y. (May 2, 2004) –
College of Saint Rose put a damper on the Northeast-10 Conference
regular season title hopes of Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 25 in this
week’s National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA)
Division II poll, as the Golden Knights held on for a 4-3 victory at
Walker Field at Bleecker Stadium this afternoon.
The loss squandered an opportunity for Franklin Pierce (28-20,
23-8 NE-10) to clinch its first NE-10 regular season title out-right and
earn the top seed in next weekend’s Conference Tournament to be played
at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, Mass. Bryant College (35-13, 24-9 NE-10)
had defeated Saint Anselm College (29-18, 23-8 NE-10), 5-3, earlier in
the day, meaning the Ravens could have clinched the title and top seed
with a win.
Franklin Pierce returns to action when it opens the
double-elimination NE-10 Tournament play on Friday. Saint Rose (24-24,
14-18 NE-10) rounds out its season tomorrow at Assumption College at
3:30 p.m.
This afternoon, Franklin Pierce out-hit Saint Rose 11-4, but the
Golden Knights stranded five Ravens on base and took advantage of four
Franklin Pierce errors to score a pair of unearned runs.
No Saint Rose batters registered multiple hits, but junior David Stringham (Schenectady,
N.Y./Schenectady) hit 1-for-3 with two RBI. Classmate Jean-Francois
DuFour (Beauharnois, Quebec/Beauharnois) was also 1-3 with a run
scored.
Junior
Nolan
Kline (Delanson, N.Y./Duanesburg) picked up his fourth win of
the season (4-5) as he allowed three earned runs while scattering 11
hits with three strikeouts and no walks over 7.1 innings of work. Senior
Jason
Rodriguez (Middletown, N.Y./Middletown) retired all four batters
he faced, with a strikeout, to collect his fourth save of the season.
Junior Bryan
Borowski (Clarksburg, Mass./Drury) was the hard-luck loser for
Franklin Pierce as he yielded four runs, just two earned, on four hits
with six strikeouts and two walks over seven innings.
Junior Eric
Cavers (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills) paced the Ravens offense
as he hit 2-4 with a double, home run and three RBI. Senior Dante Blancarte (South Berwick,
Maine/Amesbury (Mass.)) was 3-4 with a pair of doubles, while
sophomore Mike
Chambers (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) finished 2-4.
The Golden Knights scored all four of its runs to take a 4-0 lead in the fourth. Stringham singled to center with the bases-loaded and one out to drive in a pair. Senior Matt Moore (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall) scored on a fielder’s choice by the next batter, and Stringham also scored on the play as Chambers threw the ball away attempting to throw Stringham out at third. Franklin
Pierce got back in the game in the eighth as sophomore Randy
Fenton (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) doubled to lead off the
inning, followed by a Vinny Pennell (Spencer,
Mass./David Prouty) single. Cavers then belted his team-leading
seventh home run of the season with a towering shot to centerfield to
draw the Ravens within a run. |
