Shea dominates Ravens in game one England keeps Franklin Pierce off-balance in nightcap

RINDGE, N.H. (April 13, 2002) - Bryant College's pitching staff quieted the Franklin Pierce
offense as it swept a doubleheader in Northeast-10 Conference baseball action at Crystal Field this afternoon. The Bulldogs won game one, 9-2, before posting a 9-5 victory in the nightcap.

In game one, sophomore Chris Shea threw seven strong innings to earn his fourth win (4-2) of the season. Shea allowed two earned runs, scattering four hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Junior Joe Cormier came on in the eighth and pitched two innings of one-hit shutout relief to finish off the win.

Junior Jeff Renga led the Bryant offense as he hit three-for-five with a homerun, two runs scored and two RBIs. Sophomore Chris Dwyer was also 3-5, adding two runs scored and one RBI. Senior Dan England was 2-4 with a double and a homer, while junior Mike Ciallella also hit 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI.

Franklin Pierce sophomoreMatt Weagle (Charlton, Mass./Shepherd Hill) suffered the loss (0-5) as he yielded six runs, just four earned, on ten hits with six strikeouts and two walks in seven innings of work.

Weagle and Shea were locked in a classic pitchers duel through the first four innings, but Bryant got back-to-back solo homers from England and freshman Mickey Ryan to lead off the fifth inning putting the Bulldogs ahead.

Renga belted a one-out homer in the sixth inning to put the Bulldogs up 3-0, then sophomore B.J. Gagnon laced an RBI double down the rightfield line to score Ciallella, who singled then advanced to second on a throwing error.

The Bryant lead expanded to 6-0 with a pair of unearned runs in the seventh. Dwyer singled home freshman Lee Zuber and later scored when Renga reached on a fielding error at shortstop.

The Ravens got two runs back in the bottom of the seventh as junior Mike Callahan (Worcester, Mass./St. Peter Marian) drove inDante Blancarte (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) who singled earlier. Junior Al Medeiros (North Andover, Mass./North Andover) followed with a single to score Chris Shank (Westminster, Mass./Oakmont Regional) who drew a pinch-hit walk.

Bryant broke the game open with three more runs in the ninth, sparked by RBI singles from Renga and Ciallella.

No Ravens had multiple hits as they were out-hit by the Bulldogs 14-5 for the game. Callahan was 1-2 with an RBI, while Medeiros hit 1-3 with an RBI and freshman Mike MacSwain (Stoughton, Mass./Coyle Cassidy) chipped in a pinch-hit single.

Battery
BC: Chris Shea, Joe Cormier (8th) and Jim Collins
FP: Matt Weagle, Gary Laakso (8th) and Al Medeiros

WP: Shea (4-2)
LP: Weagle (0-5)
HR: Renga (9); England (2); Ryan (1).

In the nightcap, England kept the Ravens bats at bay again as he earned his second win (2-0) of the season, yielding two earned runs on nine hits with six strikeouts and two walks in eight innings of work.

Junior Jim Collins sparked the offense with a 3-5 effort at the plate, a double, a homerun and two RBIs. Ciallella batted 2-3 with a homer, a stolen base, two runs scored and two RBIs. Ryan finished 2-5 with two RBIs.

Franklin Pierce freshmanA.J. Hatton (Hudson, Mass./Hudson) had his roughest outing of the season as he was touched for five earned runs on eight hits with a strikeout in 3.1 innings to take the loss (1-2).

Senior Scott Loiseau (Worcester, Mass./St. Peter Marian) hit 3-4 for the Ravens, extending his season-long hitting streak to 15 games. Shank was 2-5 with an RBI and a run scored, while Medeiros was 1-4 with an RBI. Freshman Bear Dunn (Charlton, Mass./Shepherd Hill) finished 1-3, but belted his first career homerun in the eighth inning.

Ciallella got Bryant going early as he belted a two-run homer with two outs in the top of the first to give the Bulldogs a quick 2-0 advantage, then added a single run in the second on a sac fly by Dwyer.

The Ravens got one run back in the bottom of the second thanks to an RBI single from Medeiros.

Bryant scored two in the fourth when Collins belted a two-run blast and broke the game open with a three-run seventh with Ryan providing the spark on a two-run single.

Battery
BC: Dan England, Paul Gately (9th) and Jim Collins
FP: A.J. Hatton, Greg Basile (4th), Bryan Borowski (6th) and Al Medeiros

WP: England (2-0)
LP: Hatton (1-2)
HR: Collins (3); Ciallella (3); Dunn (1)

Franklin Pierce made the game closer in the ninth with three runs, two unearned. Shank lined a single to left with the bases loaded emptied the bases with the help of a Bryant error. FP
(13-12, 7-6 NE-10) and Bryant (21-13, 11-4 NE-10) wrap up their four-game weekend series tomorrow afternoon in Smithfield, R.I., at 1 p.m.