Fournier
No-Hitter RINDGE,
N.H. (March 28, 2006) –
It may not have been pretty, but junior right-hander Daniel
Fournier (Worcester, Mass./Holy Name) tossed the fourth
no-hitter in program history to lead Franklin Pierce, ranked 11th
in this week’s Collegiate Baseball magazine Division II poll,
to an 8-1 victory over Southern Connecticut State University,
receiving votes in this week’s national poll, in Northeast-10
Conference baseball action at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field this
afternoon.
Fournier (3-1) struck out a career-high 18 Southern Connecticut
State batters en route to the fourth no-hitter in program history, the
first since Chris Shank’s season-opening no-no against Framingham
State College on March 9, 2002. The strikeout total is two shy of
Justin Blood’s program record total of 20 set during the 2001
season. Fournier did yield seven base runners, on a season-high six
walks and a hit batter, one of which scored on wild pitch with two out
in the ninth. Fournier struck out the side twice and had two strikeouts in seven innings, fanning at least one batter in every inning but the seventh. Just two Southern batters managed to get the ball out of the infield with two fly outs to centerfield coming in the sixth and seventh. 12 of his first 15 outs were via strikeouts.
While
Fournier was keeping Southern’s offense in check, senior Mike
Chambers (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) was leading the
offensive charge as he hit 3-for-4 with a double, home run and three
RBI. Freshman Scott Savastano (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North)
was 2-3 with a triple, stolen base and RBI, while junior All-American Garrett
Olson (Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) finished 1-3 with a run
scored and stolen base to extend his hitting streak to a team-best 13
games.
Senior lefthander Matt Hennessey (Wallingford,
Conn./Lyman Hall) suffered the loss for Southern (2-2) as he
allowed six earned runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and a walk
in 6.1 innings of work. Sophomore Joe Kahlden (Norwalk, Conn./Fairfield Prep) entered the game as a pinch hitter in the ninth, and was hit by a Fournier pitch. He advanced to second on a walk, and then two wild pitches brought him around for the Owls lone run.
Franklin
Pierce opened the scoring in the second as junior Vinny Pennell
(Spencer, Mass./David Prouty) singled and later scored on a Matt
Anderson (Medford, Mass./Medford) ground out. The Ravens took
a two-run lead in the fourth when junior Kim Hart (Gorham,
Maine/Gorham) singled and scored on Savastano’s triple with
two out. Franklin Pierce added another run in the sixth when Chambers
smacked Hennessey’s first pitch of the inning over the wall in left
for his fourth homer of the year.
Franklin Pierce broke the game open with a five-run seventh. A Randy
Fenton (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) double was sandwiched
between a hit batter and intentional walk to load the bases and chase
Hennessey. Sophomore reliever Justin Cox (Newburgh,
N.Y./Newburgh Free) entered the game for the Owls and walked
the first batter he faced, senior Elliott Shea (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant),
on four-straight pitches to bring one run in. Chambers
followed with a two-run double, with a third run scoring on the play
when Southern’s leftfielder misplayed the ball. Chambers would later
score on a sacrifice fly from senior All-American Bryan
Duplissie (East Swanzey, N.H./Monadnock Regional) after
reaching third on a passed ball to round out the Ravens scoring. Franklin Pierce (16-4, 1-0 NE-10) and Southern Connecticut, ranked third in the Northeast Region, complete their two-game midweek series on Thursday in New Haven, Conn., at 3 p.m. |
