Athletics - Franklin Pierce University

Senior All-American Bryan Duplissie was a combined 4-for-8 with two doubles, a grand slam, four runs scored and eight RBI to lead the Ravens offense this afternoon.

#7 Franklin Pierce Splits
at Nova Southeastern
Ravens win nightcap, 15-6, after late rally
falls just short in 7-6 loss in game one

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (March 25, 2006) – Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 7 in this week’s Collegiate Baseball magazine Division II Coaches’ poll, rounded out its spring break trip with a doubleheader split with Nova Southeastern University, receiving votes in the coaches’ poll, at the NSU Baseball Complex this afternoon. The Ravens saw a late rally fall just short in a 7-6 loss in game one, before rolling to a 15-6 victory in the nightcap.

Senior All-American Bryan Duplissie (East Swanzey, N.H./Monadnock Regional) hit a combined 4-for-8 with two doubles, a home run (grand slam), four runs scored and eight RBI in the doubleheader, also picking up the win on the mound in game two.

Junior Vinny Pennell (Spencer, Mass./David Prouty) was a combined 4-for-7 with a triple, stolen base, run scored and three RBI on the day, while junior All-American Garrett Olson (Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) hit a combined 4-for-8 with a double, two RBI and four runs scored.

In game one, Nova Southeastern erased an early 3-1 deficit and opened a 7-3 advantage after five, before holding off a late Franklin Pierce rally for the 7-6 victory. The Ravens drew within a run with three in the seventh and had the tying run on third in the ninth.

Junior Vinny Pennell was 2-for-3 with a triple, stolen base and RBI in game one for the Ravens.

Senior Brian Ikalina (Sunrise, Fla.) led Nova Southeastern’s 11-hit attack, as he was 3-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI. Classmate Greg Burrows (Nassau, Bahamas) was 2-4 with a double and stolen base, while junior Shawn Langlois (West Palm Beach, Fla.) was 2-5 with a double, stolen base and RBI.

Junior left-hander Antony Bello (Miami, Fla.) improved to 6-1 on the season, allowing three earned runs on three hits and five walks with five strikeouts over five plus innings of work. Senior Joe Franco (Boynton Beach, Fla.) ran into a little trouble in the ninth, but stranded the tying run on third base to collect his sixth save of the year.

Senior right-hander Tyler Cummings (South Paris, Maine/Oxford Hills) came up short in his first bid to become Franklin Pierce’s career win leader, taking his first loss of the season (3-1) as he allowed seven runs, four earned, on nine hits with a strikeout and no walks in 4.1 innings of work. Cummings has posted a 20-12 career mark and sits tied with Chris Shank and Jon White atop the Ravens career wins list. He was able to match former teammate Keith Brouillard’s program record for consecutive shutout innings, getting two outs in the first to extend his string to 17.2 innings before NSU plated a single run.

Senior Mike Chambers was 2-5 with a double and RBI in game one

Pennell led the Ravens on offense as he hit 2-for-3 with a triple, stolen base and RBI. Senior Mike Chambers (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) was 2-5 with a double, run scored and RBI, while Duplissie, Olson, Elliott Shea (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) and Kim Hart (Gorham, Maine/Gorham) were all 1-4 with an RBI.

Franklin Pierce opened a 3-1 lead after two innings as Chambers roped an RBI double in the first and Olson added an RBI single and Shea drove in a run on a ground out in the second. Nova Southeastern knotted the score with a pair of runs in the third as Langlois notched an RBI double and another run scored on a Cummings balk.

The Sharks took the lead for good with a run in the fourth thanks to an error, and then added three runs for some needed insurance in the fifth. Ikalina started things with an RBI single before scoring on a wild pitch. Sophomore James Sposa (Coconut Creek, Fla.) added an RBI single.

Franklin Pierce rallied with three in the seventh, sparked by an RBI double by Duplissie and capped by an RBI triple by Pennell. Hart also drove in a run with a single. The Ravens threatened in the ninth as Shea led off with a single through the right side, stole second with one out and reached third on a fly out, but was stranded there as Hart flew out to left.

Boxscore & Play-by-Play

In the nightcap, Franklin Pierce scored three runs in the first, marking the 14^th time in 19 games this season the Ravens have scored in their first at bat, and opened a 9-3 advantage after three innings and never looked back.

Junior All-American Garrett Olson was 3-for-4 with a double, RBI and three runs scored in the nightcap.

Duplissie led the way, hitting 3-for-4 with a double, homer (grand slam), three runs scored and seven RBI. He also picked up his third win on the mound, yielding five runs, four earned, while scattering 11 hits and two walks with two strikeouts over six innings.

Pennell was 2-4 with two RBI, while Olson finished 3-4 with a double, RBI and three runs scored. Shea rounded out the Ravens with multiple hits, going 2-4 with two runs scored. Senior Mike Feetham (Quincy, Mass./North Quincy) roped an RBI double in his lone at bat, while senior Randy Fenton (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) and sophomore Matt Anderson (Medford, Mass./Medford) each drove in runs.

Sophomore Matt Mindick (Boynton Beach, Fla./American Hertage Delray) was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate for Nova Southeastern with a run scored. Langlois was 2-3 with an RBI and run scored, while senior Sean McFadden (Hollywood, Fla./Chaminade-Madonna) and junior Chris Reynolds (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Western) were both 2-4 with an RBI.

Senior Elliott Shea was 2-4 with two runs scored in game two.

Sophomore Jon Spier (Plantation, Fla./Chaminade-Madonna) suffered the loss (3-2) as he was hit for seven earned runs on four hits and four walks with a strikeout in two innings of work. Franklin Pierce touched up four of the five Shark pitchers for runs in the contest, with just freshman Kevin Padilla (Plantation, Fla./Plantation) escaping unscathed, yielding a hit over the final two thirds of an inning in the seventh.

Franklin Pierce held a 3-2 lead after an inning play, before breaking it open with six runs over the next two frames. Duplissie’s grand slam with one out in the second got things going, before Fenton collected an RBI single and Olson belted an RBI double in the third after NSU scored a single run in the home half of the second.

The Sharks added a run in the fourth on an error to draw within 9-4, but the Ravens scored three in the sixth sparked by an RBI single from Pennell and added three more in the seventh to end all hopes of a comeback. Duplissie rounded out his RBI total with a run-scoring single in the seventh before Feetham roped a two-run pinch-hit double.

Boxscore & Play-by-Play

Franklin Pierce (15-4, 0-0 NE-10) is back in action on Tuesday when it opens its Northeast-10 Conference schedule with a key match up with Southern Connecticut State University in a rematch of the 2005 NCAA Northeast Regional Championship. The Owls posted a 1-0 victory over the Ravens to advance to the Division II World Series in Montgomery, Ala., last May. Nova Southeastern (19-11, 3-3 SSC) hosts Florida Tech on Tuesday at 6 p.m.