2004 ECAC DIVISION II 
BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
#1 Franklin Pierce Wins Second ECAC Title 
in Three Years
Third-seeded Wilmington forces decisive 
game three with 10-7 victory;
Ravens crush five homers in 14-2 
rain-shortened win for title in game three;
Cavers belts three homers on the day 
to earn MVP honors

RINDGE, N.H. (May 15, 2004) – Top-seeded Franklin Pierce claimed its second ECAC Division II Baseball Championship over the last three years with a commanding 14-2 victory in game three of its championship series with third-seeded Wilmington (Del.) College at Crystal Field this afternoon. Wilmington forced the third game with a 10-7 triumph in today’s first game.

            Franklin Pierce, which claimed its first ECAC Championship in 2002, rounds out its season with a 32-23 record as its victory today matches the program record for single-season wins set in 2003. Wilmington, which went 2-2 in this weekend’s tournament, closes out its season with a 22-26 record.

            Junior catcher Eric Cavers (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills) was named the ECAC Championship Most Valuable Player as he hit a combined .538 (7-13) in the three-game series with Wilmington, scoring seven runs and adding a double, triple, three home runs, nine RBI and two stolen bases. This afternoon, Cavers was 5-for-9 with three homers, five runs scored, nine RBI, a double and a triple. 

Franklin Pierce belted five home runs in its decisive 14-2 victory in today’s nightcap, which was called in the top of the eighth due to strong thunderstorms in the region. Cavers led the way with a pair of homers to go with a double, three runs scored, four RBI and a stolen base in a 3-for-4 game.

            Freshman Kim Hart (Gorham, Maine/Gorham) was 2-4 with a homer, double, two runs scored and three RBI, while classmate Garrett Olson (Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) was 2-4 with a homer, three runs scored and an RBI. Sophomore Randy Fenton (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) hit 1-2 with a homer, steal, two runs scored and two RBI.

            Junior right-hander Ryan Bowling (Cedar Springs, Mich./Cedar Springs) picked up his second win of the ECAC Championship, allowing two runs, just one earned, scattering ten hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 7.2 innings of work to close out the season with a 6-2 mark.            

Senior Tom Eller (Rising Sun, Md./Rising Sun) was the lone Wilmington batter with multiple hits in the nightcap as he was 2-3 with a double. Classmate Tom Gallagher (Bear, Del./Glasgow) was 1-2 with an RBI, as was junior Rich Ware (Salem, N.J./Woodstown).

            Senior left-hander Kevin Tully (Hockessin, Del./AI DuPont) suffered the loss, yielding three earned runs on four hits with a strikeout and no walks in 2.1 innings of work.

            Franklin Pierce built up a 3-0 lead after three innings thanks to solo homers from Olson (2^nd inning), Fenton (3^rd) and Cavers (3^rd). The Ravens broke the game open with six over the fourth and fifth. Senior Jason Bourque (Randolph, Mass./Kingswood (N.H.) Regional)

started the four-run fourth with an RBI single, followed by a two-run single from classmate Dante Blancarte (South Berwick, Maine/Amesbury (Mass.)). In the fifth, Olson led off with a single, followed by a towering homer by Hart.

            Wilmington scored a pair in the sixth on an RBI single from Ware and a sacrifice fly by Gallagher. The Ravens added five more in the seventh, capped by a three-run Cavers home run, his tenth of the season, to left-center.

 GAME TWO: Boxscore & Play-by-Play            

In today’s first game (game two of the series), Wilmington jumped out to a 6-1 lead and withstood a pair of late Franklin Pierce rallies to post a 10-7 victory and force a deciding third game.

            Senior Jim Murphy (Newark, Del./Christiana) led the Wildcats as he was 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI. Sophomore Derek Pugh (New Castle, Del./Christiana) was 3-3 with two runs scored, while Gallagher hit 1-2 with three RBI. Junior Joe Class (Rising Sun, Md./Rising Sun) finished 2-4.

            Senior Chris Cannatelli (Clayton, Del./Smyrna) picked up his fifth win of the season (5-6) on the mound for Wilmington. He allowed six earned runs on 12 hits with three strikeouts and a walk in eight-plus innings of work. Junior Scott Reynolds (Newark, Del./Christiana) struck out the only batter he faced to end the game and pick up his second save of the season.            

Cavers led the Ravens by hitting 2-5 with a homer, triple, two runs scored and five RBI. Fenton was 3-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, while freshman Vinny Pennell (Spencer, Mass./David Prouty) was 2-4 with two runs scored. Hart finished, 2-4, while sophomore Elliott Shea (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) was 2-5.

            Freshman Daniel Fournier (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) suffered the loss as he allowed four earned runs on four hits and four walks with four strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work.

            Wilmington jumped ahead with a pair in the second. Class led off with a single and scored on a fielder’s choice, before sophomore Garry Wright (Newark, Del./St. Mark’s) scored on a wild pitch. The Ravens answered with a single run in the home half with a Fenton RBI single to center to score Pennell, who singled with two out.

            Gallagher’s RBI single and a Wright sacrifice fly gave the Wildcats a 4-1 lead in the fifth. Murphy’s RBI double in the sixth and Eller’s run-scoring single in the seventh put Wilmington up 6-1.

            The Ravens rallied with three in the home-half of the seventh on a three-run Cavers homer to cut the deficit to 6-4, but the Wildcats scored two in the eighth and ninth to extend their advantage to 10-4. Franklin Pierce had one more run left in the bottom of the ninth as Cavers roped a two-run triple and scored on a wild pitch. The Ravens brought the tying run to the plate, but Reynolds came on and struck out Pennell to end the game.

GAME ONE: Boxscore & Play-by-Play