#15
Franklin Pierce RINDGE,
N.H. (April 17, 2006) –
Franklin Pierce, ranked 15th in this week’s Collegiate
Baseball magazine Division II coaches poll, finished off its
three-game weekend series sweep of Bentley College with an 8-0 victory
in Northeast-10 Conference baseball action at Dr. Arthur and Martha
Pappas Field this afternoon. Junior right-hander Daniel Fournier (Worcester, Mass./Holy Name) led three Franklin Pierce pitchers who combined on a six-hit shutout with seven scoreless innings to pick up his fourth win of the season (4-2). He scattered five hits and three walks while striking out ten, his third double-digit strikeout performance of the season. Sophomore Kyle Graham (Westboro, Mass./Westboro) and junior Neil Cacciola (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield) combined to allow just three base runners over the last two scoreless frames.
Senior
All-American Bryan Duplissie (East Swanzey, N.H./Monadnock
Regional) was 2-for-4 with a double - the lone extra base hit
of the contest - as Franklin Pierce took advantage of eight walks and
five Bentley errors. Senior Randy Fenton (Worcester,
Mass./Doherty) was 2-4 with a pair of stolen bases and two
runs scored, while junior Jake Christman (Newton, Mass./Newton
South) was 1-3 with two RBI. Freshman Scott Savastano
(Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) notched two RBI without the
benefit of a hit, while junior All-American Garrett Olson
(Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) finished 1-5 with a stolen base,
RBI and two runs scored.
Senior Bill Dacier (Medway, Mass./Medway) was
2-for-3 for Bentley with a stolen base, while classmate GJ
Vicente (Salem, N.H./Central Catholic) hit 2-4. Freshman Brett Fistes (South Deerfield, Mass./Greenfield) suffered his first collegiate loss (3-1), surrendering seven runs, six earned, on seven hits with four strikeouts, but was hampered by eight walks over 5.2 innings.
Franklin
Pierce jumped ahead with two runs in the first, marking the 24th
time in 35 games this season the Ravens have scored in their first at
bat. Senior Elliott Shea (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) was hit
by a pitch to lead off the inning, stole second, and then scored on an
Olson single up the middle with one out. Olson later scored on a
Savastano ground out after Duplissie pushed him to third with a double
down the rightfield line.
The Ravens added two more in the second with the aid of
Bentley’s first error of the afternoon. Shea drove in a run with a
single through the left side, but a second run scored when the Falcons
leftfielder tried to catch a runner going to third, but threw the ball
into the Ravens dugout. Franklin Pierce scored single runs in the
third and fourth. Christman notched an RBI single with two out in the
third, before senior Mike Chambers (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry)
drove one in with a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
Franklin Pierce rounded out the scoring with single runs in the
sixth and eighth. Christman drew a bases loaded walk to chase Fistes
in the sixth and two errors from Bentley’s shortstop set up the
Ravens final run in the eighth. Franklin Pierce (27-8, 12-4 NE-10), winners of five-straight and ten of 11, is back in action tomorrow when it hosts American International College at 3:30 p.m. Bentley (13-15-1, 7-10 NE-10) hosts Saint Anselm College tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. |
