2004
ECAC DIVISION II RINDGE,
N.H. (May 14, 2004) –
Top-seeded Franklin Pierce claimed a 6-5 victory over third-seeded
Wilmington (Del.) College, in ten innings, in game one their 2004 ECAC
Championship Series at Crystal Field this afternoon.
Franklin Pierce jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first, but needed
bases-loaded walks in the ninth and tenth to come away with the victory.
Sophomore Mike Chambers (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry)
drew the base-loaded walk in the bottom of the tenth to plate classmate Randy
Fenton (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) with the winning run. Franklin Pierce (31-22) and Wilmington (21-25) will resume their best-of-three series tomorrow at noon. Wilmington needs to defeat the Ravens twice to claim the ECAC Championship, while Franklin Pierce will be looking for a win to claim its second ECAC title over the last three years.
Chambers
helped pace the Ravens offense as he finished 2-for-4 with a double, run
scored and two RBI. Senior Dante Blancarte (South Berwick, Maine/Amesbury (Mass.)) was 2-4 with a
double, two runs scored and two RBI. Freshman Garrett Olson
(Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) hit 2-5 with a double and RBI,
while senior Eric Cavers (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills) was
2-4 with a stolen base and two runs scored.
Sophomore Mike Farrell (Russell, Mass./Gateway Regional) picked
up the win (3-1) with 1.2 innings of perfect relief. He entered the game
with a runner on first and one out in the ninth and retired the side on
one pitch with a lineout double play. Franklin Pierce starter Bryan
Borowski (Clarksburg, Mass./Drury) didn’t figure in on the
decision but went seven strong innings, allowing three earned runs on
five hits with a walk and three strikeouts.
Senior Tom Eller (Rising Sun, Md./Rising Sun) paced
the Wilmington offense as he hit 2-4 with a home run and two RBI. Junior
Bryan Fitzgerald (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark’s) was 2-5
with a run scored, while senior Aaron Lewis (Wilmington, Del./St.
Elizabeth’s) finished 2-4. Senior Tom Gallagher (Bear, Del./Glasgow) suffered the loss (3-5) as he allowed two earned runs on two hits and five walks with three strikeouts over 2.1 innings. Junior Pete Henyan (Corning, N.Y./Corning East) did not receive a decision, yielding four earned runs on nine hits with nine strikeouts and two walks over the first seven innings.
Franklin
Pierce jumped ahead with three in the bottom of the first. Blancarte
roped an RBI double and scored on another double from Chambers. Olson
followed with a single to left to score Chambers.
Wilmington closed to within a run in the fifth as Eller smashed a
two-run home run with two out. The Ravens regained a two-run cushion in
the home half of the fifth as Blancarte’s single through the right
side scored Cavers, who singled after the first two Raven batters were
retired.
The Wildcats closed to within a run after a solo home run to
leftfield from sophomore Garry Wright (Newark, Del./St. Mark’s),
and then took the lead with a pair in the eighth. Senior Adam
Brown (Wilmington, Del./Caravel Academy) drove in the tying run
with a single to center and junior Joe Class (Rising Sun,
Md./Rising Sun) scored the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly.
The first three Franklin Pierce batters reached in the ninth, but
the Ravens scored just the tying run when freshman Kim Hart
(Gorham, Maine/Gorham) drew a bases-loaded walk with one out.
Pennell followed with a fly ball to left deep enough to score the
winning run, but Chambers tagged and left third early and the result was
an inning-ending double play.
Fenton led off the tenth with a double down the rightfield line
and advanced to third on a wild pitch. After getting a strikeout,
Wilmington chose to walk the bases loaded to set up the double play and
force at any base. Blancarte struck out for the second out before
Chambers drew the game-winning bases-loaded walk. |
