Ravens win in last at-bat twice to win 10th and
11th-straight
RINDGE, N.H. (April 24,
2004) - Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 6 in this week's
National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division
II Northeast Region poll, scored in its last at bat twice to sweep
a key Northeast-10 Conference baseball doubleheader from Stonehill
College, ranked No. 4 in the region, at Crystal Field this
afternoon.
Sophomore Nick Panza
(Albany, N.Y./Colonie Central) drove in the winning
run in the bottom of the ninth with a pinch-hit bloop single behind
second base as Franklin Pierce took game one, 5-4. Sophomore
Mike Chambers (Londonderry,
N.H./Londonderry) smacked an RBI double with one out
in the bottom of the ninth to cap a Ravens rally from a 5-2 deficit
for a 6-5 victory in the
nightcap.
Sophomore right-hander
Tyler Cummings (South Paris, Maine/Oxford
Hills) picked up the win in both contests as he
pitched a combined five innings of no-hit shutout relief with no
walks and seven strikeouts, facing the minimum batters for the day.
Franklin Pierce junior
Eric Cavers (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford
Hills) hit for the cycle on the afternoon, as he was
a combined 5-for-8 with a double, triple, home run, two stolen
bases, four runs scored and two RBI.
The wins are a record tenth and
11th-straight for Franklin Pierce, which has now won
13-straight at home dating back to last season, including a 9-0
clip this season.
In game one, Panza's pinch-hit
single capped an inning in which Franklin Pierce did all its damage
with two out. Freshman Garrett Olson (Norway,
Maine/Oxford Hills) walked and advanced to third on a
single by classmate Kim Hart (Gorham,
Maine/Gorham). Panza then followed with his pinch-hit
bloop single to score Olson with the winning
run.
Sophomore Elliott Shea
(Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) paced the Ravens in game one
as he hit 3-for-5 with a double, stolen base and RBI. The steal was
his Conference-leading 20th of the season (on as many
attempts) to match the program's single-season mark set by Cavers
in 2003.
Olson finished 2-3 with a pair of
walks, a double and RBI, while Cavers was 2-4 with a triple, stolen
base and RBI.
Cummings pitched a scoreless ninth,
striking out two of the three batters he faced, to pick up his
first win of the day (2-2). Junior right-hander Bryan
Borowski (Clarksburg, Mass./Drury) went the first
eight for the Ravens and allowed four runs, two earned, on six hits
and two walks with five strikeouts.
Senior Jason Reynolds
(Boca Raton, Fla./New Hampton) was the lone Stonehill
batter with multiple hits as he finished 2-4 with an RBI. Seniors
Mike Schlittler (Needham, Mass./Xavarian)
and Dan Mattia (Framingham,
Mass./Marian) were both 1-3, while classmate
Pat Driscoll (Somerset, Mass./Somerset)
chipped in two RBI.
Franklin Pierce jumped out to a 3-0
lead after two innings, but Stonehill drew within a run with a pair
in the third as Driscoll laced a two-run single through the right
side. The Ravens extended its lead to 4-2 in the fourth on an RBI
single to center by Shea.
Stonehill knotted the score with a
pair of unearned runs in the sixth thanks to three Franklin Pierce
errors. Borowski retired the first two batters harmlessly to open
the inning and appeared to have the Chieftains down in order, but
leftfielder Vinny Pennell (Spencer, Mass./David
Prouty) dropped a fly ball, then tried to make a
diving catch on the next batter to allow Tim Flynn
(Clifton Park, N.Y./Albany Academy), who reached on
the first error, to score as the ball got by Pennell and rolled to
the fence. The second run scored when Schlittler reached on an
error at third.
GAME
ONE: Boxscore &
Play-by-Play
In the nightcap, Chambers drilled a
two-run double that one-hopped the fence in left to score Shea, who
lined a one-out double down the leftfield line to spark the frame.
Chambers' double came after Stonehill chose to intentionally walk
the Ravens designated hitter, Dante Blancarte (South
Berwick, Maine/Amesbury (Mass.)) for the second time
in the game, to set up a double play.
Cavers led the Ravens offense, as he
was 3-4 with a double, home run, stolen base, three runs scored and
an RBI in game two. Hart was 2-4, while Shea finished 2-5 with a
double and RBI. Chambers finished 1-4 with two RBI.
Cummings picked up his second win of
the day (3-2) with four innings of no-hit shutout relief, fanning
five and walking none. Junior Ryan Bowling (Cedar
Springs, Mich./Cedar Springs) went the first five and
yielded five runs, just two earned, on eight hits and a walk with
three strikeouts.
Schlittler and freshman
Matthew Dudley (Norton, Mass./Norton)
were both 2-4 with a run scored and RBI for Stonehill in game two.
Dudley also doubled. Driscoll hit 2-4 with an RBI, while sophomore
Sean Lawrence (New Rochelle, N.Y./Fordham
Prep) was 1-3 with an RBI.
Schlittler was pinned with the loss
(2-1) as he allowed two earned runs on five hits and two walks with
three strikeouts in two innings of relief work for the
Chieftains. Sophomore Dean Chiusano (Clifton
Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) went the first 6.1 innings
and yielded four runs, three earned, on five hits and three walks
with six strikeouts.
Stonehill led 5-2 after scoring a
pair of runs in the sixth. Dudley singled through the right side to
score Reynolds who reached on a dropped popup at first base.
Schlittler scored on a squeeze bunt by senior Joe
Mastromonaco (Carmel, N.Y./Carmel).
The Ravens knotted the score with a
three-run seventh. Sophomore Mike Feetham (Quincy,
Mass./North Quincy) doubled down the rightfield line
to lead off the inning, advanced to third on a passed ball, and
scored on a ground out to second. Cavers kept the inning alive with
a broken bat single through the left side and Shea drove in a run
with a single up the middle. Chambers knotted the score with a
sacrifice fly to center after Blancarte was intentionally walked.
GAME
TWO: Boxscore & Play-by-Play
Franklin Pierce (24-16, 19-4 NE-10)
and Stonehill (25-13, 17-9 NE-10) round out their three-game
weekend series tomorrow afternoon in Easton, Mass., at 1 p.m.
