#20
Franklin Pierce Rallies SPARTANBURG,
S.C. (February 18, 2006) –
Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 20 in this week’s Collegiate Baseball
magazine Division II Coaches’ poll, erased a 5-2 deficit after three
innings to post an 8-5 victory over the University of South Carolina
Upstate in non-conference baseball action at Harley Park tonight. The
teams were originally slated for an afternoon doubleheader, but heavy
rain forced the teams to play just one game tonight.
Junior righthander Daniel
Fournier (Worcester, Mass./Holy Name),
Franklin Pierce’s scheduled starter for the fourth game of the
series, turned in six innings of one-hit shutout relief to keep the
Ravens in the contest. Fournier fanned 12 and walked two over the six
innings, striking out the side in order in the sixth and eighth
innings. Senior Mike Chambers (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) led the Ravens 14-hit attack, as he was 3-for-4 with three doubles and two runs scored. Sophomore Matt Anderson (Medford, Mass./Medford) was 2-4 with two RBI, while junior Vinny Pennell (Spencer, Mass./David Prouty) was 2-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Senior All-American Bryan Duplissie (East Swanzey, N.Y./Monadnock Regional) and junior Kim Hart (Gorham, Maine/Gorham) each added two hits and an RBI, while junior All-American Garrett Olson (Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) chipped in two RBI.
Junior
Bret
Story (Cowpens, S.C.)
was the lone USC Upstate batter with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with
an RBI. Senior Matt
Goyea (St. Charles, Mo.)
finished 1-2 with an RBI.
Freshman Justin
Hayes (Maudlin, S.C.)
suffered the loss in relief for the Spartans, yielding two runs, just
one earned, on four hits with a strikeout over two innings.
Back-to-back two-out doubles from Chambers and Duplissie put
the Ravens in front in the top of the first. For the second-straight
day, USCU answered in the home half when sophomore Kyle
Bowley (Apopka, Fla.)
notched an RBI single with two outs.
After the Ravens added an unearned run in the second, the
Spartans plated four in the third. USCU got runs off two RBI singles,
a sacrifice fly and wild pitch. Franklin Pierce knotted the score with
a three-run sixth, capped by a two-run single from Olson.
Franklin Pierce regained the lead for good with a pair in the
seventh on a Hart sac fly and RBI single from Pennell. The Ravens
added an insurance run in the ninth on Anderson’s RBI single. Franklin Pierce (1-1, 0-0 NE-10) and USC Upstate (5-3, 0-0 Peach Belt) will play the rubber game of their weekend series tomorrow at 11 a.m. |
