#30
Franklin Pierce Splits SMITHFIELD,
R.I. (May 2, 2005) –
Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 30 in this week’s Collegiate Baseball
magazine Division II poll, split a Northeast-10 Conference baseball
doubleheader against Bryant University at the Bryant Baseball Complex
this afternoon.
Franklin Pierce jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the third inning en
route to posting a 10-3 decision in game one. All nine batters in the
Ravens lineup registered a hit, with seven posting two hits in the
contest. Junior right-hander Tyler Cummings (South Paris, Maine/Oxford Hills) earned the complete-game win (5-3) on just three days rest, allowing the three earned runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts and just one walk for Franklin Pierce.
Junior
Bryan
Duplissie (East Swanzey, N.H./Monadnock Regional) sparked the offense, as
he was 2-for-5 with a home run, double and two RBI. Sophomore Garrett
Olson (Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) was 2-6 with a double and three RBI, while classmate
Kim Hart (Gorham, Maine/Gorham) finished 2-4 with an RBI
and two runs scored. Junior Randy Fenton (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) hit 2-4 with a pair of
runs scored.
Junior Paul
Novakowski (Prospect, Conn./Bridgton Academy) hit 3-for-4 for Bryant,
driving in two of the Bulldogs three runs. Classmate Adam Rourke (Rowley,
Mass./Triton) was 2-4 with a run
scored, while sophomore Chad Valenti (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) finished 1-3 with a run
scored.
Junior David
Rappoli (Wilmington, Mass./St. John’s Prep) suffered the loss (2-3)
as he was hit for five earned runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and
no walk over 1.2 innings. The Ravens got on the scoreboard first with five runs in the second. Duplissie followed up a leadoff double by junior Shawn Hayes (Charlton, Mass./Holy Name) with his Conference-leading tenth home run of the season. Olson, and juniors Elliott Shea (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) and Mike Chambers (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) each added RBI singles.
Franklin
Pierce scored a run in the top of the third with an RBI single from
freshman Matt
Anderson (Medford, Mass./Medford), but Bryant cut the lead in half with three in the
bottom of the third. Sophomore Mike Rocco (Tewksbury, Mass./Tewksbury) followed three straight
singles to lead off the frame by hitting into fielder’s choice that
was able to score the Bulldogs first run of the game. Novakowski
followed with a two-run single to right.
Franklin Pierce broke the game open again with three in the
seventh, sparked by a two-run double from Olson, and rounded out the
scoring in the ninth as Anderson doubled and scored on an error that
should have ended the inning. In the nightcap, Franklin Pierce scored three times in the top of the first, but Bryant avoided three-game regular season series sweep by rallying for a 5-3 victory.
Junior
Daryle
Crowley (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) was 2-for-3 with a double, homer and two RBI, while
Paul Novakowski was 1-4 with a homer and two RBI. Freshman Jason
Alexander (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) finished 2-3 with two runs scored.
Sophomore Matt
Gaynor (Hyde Park, N.Y./Our Lady Lourdes) earned the complete game victory (6-3), allowing
just the three earned runs on eight hits with a strikeout and three
walks. Gaynor settled down after yielding all three runs in the first
and didn’t yield more than one base runner in an inning until the
eighth.
Bryan Duplissie again led the Ravens, as he was 2-for-2 with a
pair of walks, a home run and two RBI. Randy Fenton was 2-3, while Shawn
Hayes finished 1-4 with a stolen base and RBI.
Sophomore Tom Gilmore (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place)
suffered the loss (0-1) in relief, allowing two earned runs on two hits
and two walks with three strikeouts over three innings. Junior Keith Brouillard
(Westport, Mass./Somerset) went five-plus innings and surrendered three earned runs on six hits with
a strikeout and two walks.
Olson led off the game with a single and scored on a Hayes
infield single with two out before Duplissie launched his second homer
of the day to give the Ravens an early 3-0 lead. The homer was the
Conference-leading 11th of the season for Duplissie, which is
just four shy of Mal Higgins’ single-season program record, and marked
the 18th time this season (14-4 record) the Ravens scored in
the first inning.
Bryant struck for a single run in the third before knotting the
score with a pair in the sixth. Crowley drew a leadoff walk, then
Novakowski belted his second homer of the season to left field. The
Bulldogs scored two more in the seventh as Alexander hit a leadoff
single before Crowley smacked a go-ahead two-run homer. The Ravens put two runners on with one out in the eighth, but could not score. Franklin Pierce (25-12, 19-9 NE-10) returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts American International College at Dr. Pappas Field at 3:30 p.m. Bryant (20-17, 14-11 NE-10) hosts Assumption College tomorrow at 2 p.m. |
