Weagle strong on the mound; Offense helped by five Yellow
Jackets errors
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April
3, 2003) - Franklin Pierce, receiving votes in this week's
National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division
II poll, rebounded from a miserable wood bat debut yesterday at
UMass Lowell to post a 7-0 victory over American International
College in Northeast-10 Conference baseball action at AIC Park this
afternoon. The game was called after seven innings due to darkness.
Franklin Pierce, also ranked second
in New England, got another strong start from junior right-hander
Matt Weagle (Charlton, Mass./Shephard Hill
Regional), the No. 4-ranked pro prospect in Division
II according to Baseball America. Weagle (3-0) fired a three-hit
shutout with nine strikeouts and three walks. The three free passes
were the first of the season for Weagle in 23.2 innings of work as
he has now won his last seven decisions dating back to last season.
While Weagle was in total command,
the Ravens offense sputtered again with the NE-10 mandated wood
bats, scoring seven runs on just three hits, as they took advantage
of five AIC errors to score five unearned runs. Senior
Dan Close (Leominster, Mass./Leominster)
registered a bunt single in his only official at bat, while
sophomore Eric Cavers (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford
Hills) led off the game with a single to left and
finished 1-3 with two runs scored and a stolen base. Junior
Jason Bourque (Wolfeboro, N.H./Kingswood
Regional) notched the Ravens only other hit with a
single to center in the seventh, while junior Dante
Blancarte (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) scored a run and
added two RBI.
Junior Mike Cabrera was the
hard-luck loser, yielding six runs, just two earned, on two hits
without a strikeout over 4.2 innings of work. He was hampered by
five walks and three hit batters.
Junior Jeff Bourque had a hit in
his lone official at bat, walking twice and stealing a base.
Franklin Pierce jumped ahead in the
top of the first as Cavers led off with a single and stole second.
Blancarte drove him in two batters later with a ground out to
shortstop.
The Ravens scored five runs in the
third and fourth innings with out registering a single hit. They
drew four walks, Cabrera hit two batters, and took advantage of
three AIC errors to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Franklin Pierce
tacked on a seventh run in the sixth when senior Josh
Coughlin (Keene, N.H./Keene) reached on an error and
later scored on a passed ball.
Franklin Pierce (8-5, 0-0 NE-10) is
scheduled to return to action on Saturday when it travels to
Waltham, Mass., to face Bentley College for a doubleheader
beginning at noon. AIC (1-13, 0-3 NE-10) visits Stonehill College
on Saturday for a noon twinbill.
SCHEDULE NOTE: The
Ravens doubleheader against Stonehill College (Noon) will be played
at Yarmouth-Dennis High School on Cape Cod.
| Teams
| 1
| 2
| 3
| 4
| 5
| 6
| 7
| 8
| 9
| R
| H
| E
|
| FP
| 1
| 0
| 2
| 3
| 0
| 0
| 1
| 0
| --
| 7
| 3
| 0
|
| AIC
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| --
| 0
| 3
| 5
|
BOX
SCORE
Batteries:
FP - Matt Weagle and Eric Cavers
AIC -- Jeff Davenport, Mike Cabrera (1), Paul
Thompson (5) and Adam Zebian.
WP: Weagle
(3-0)
LP: Cabrera (0-2)
