Despite getting out-hit 11-4, Golden Knights hold on for
4-3 victory
ALBANY, N.Y. (May 2,
2004) - College of Saint Rose put a damper on the
Northeast-10 Conference regular season title hopes of Franklin
Pierce, ranked No. 25 in this week's National Collegiate Baseball
Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II poll, as the Golden Knights
held on for a 4-3 victory at Walker Field at Bleecker Stadium this
afternoon.
The loss squandered an opportunity
for Franklin Pierce (28-20, 23-8 NE-10) to clinch its first NE-10
regular season title out-right and earn the top seed in next
weekend's Conference Tournament to be played at LeLacheur Park in
Lowell, Mass. Bryant College (35-13, 24-9 NE-10) had defeated Saint
Anselm College (29-18, 23-8 NE-10), 5-3, earlier in the day,
meaning the Ravens could have clinched the title and top seed with
a win.
Franklin Pierce returns to action
when it opens the double-elimination NE-10 Tournament play on
Friday. Saint Rose (24-24, 14-18 NE-10) rounds out its season
tomorrow at Assumption College at 3:30 p.m.
This afternoon, Franklin Pierce
out-hit Saint Rose 11-4, but the Golden Knights stranded five
Ravens on base and took advantage of four Franklin Pierce errors to
score a pair of unearned runs.
No Saint Rose batters registered
multiple hits, but junior David Stringham (Schenectady,
N.Y./Schenectady) hit 1-for-3 with two RBI. Classmate
Jean-Francois DuFour (Beauharnois,
Quebec/Beauharnois) was also 1-3 with a run scored.
Junior Nolan Kline
(Delanson, N.Y./Duanesburg) picked up his fourth win
of the season (4-5) as he allowed three earned runs while
scattering 11 hits with three strikeouts and no walks over 7.1
innings of work. Senior Jason Rodriguez (Middletown,
N.Y./Middletown) retired all four batters he faced,
with a strikeout, to collect his fourth save of the season.
Junior Bryan Borowski
(Clarksburg, Mass./Drury) was the hard-luck loser for
Franklin Pierce as he yielded four runs, just two earned, on four
hits with six strikeouts and two walks over seven innings.
Junior Eric Cavers
(Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills) paced the Ravens
offense as he hit 2-4 with a double, home run and three RBI. Senior
Dante Blancarte (South Berwick, Maine/Amesbury
(Mass.)) was 3-4 with a pair of doubles, while
sophomore Mike Chambers (Londonderry,
N.H./Londonderry) finished
2-4.
The Golden Knights scored all four
of its runs to take a 4-0 lead in the fourth. Stringham singled to
center with the bases-loaded and one out to drive in a pair. Senior
Matt Moore (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall)
scored on a fielder's choice by the next batter, and Stringham also
scored on the play as Chambers threw the ball away attempting to
throw Stringham out at third.
Franklin Pierce got back in the
game in the eighth as sophomore Randy Fenton
(Worcester, Mass./Doherty) doubled to lead off the
inning, followed by a Vinny Pennell (Spencer,
Mass./David Prouty) single. Cavers then belted his
team-leading seventh home run of the season with a towering shot to
centerfield to draw the Ravens within a run.
After Saint Rose collected the first out of the inning, the Ravens
continued to threaten, as Blancarte and Chambers singled to chase
Kline, but Rodriguez came on to induce an inning ending double play
to squelch the threat. Rodriguez set the Ravens down in order in
the ninth to seal the victory.
GAME
TWO: Boxscore & Play-by-Play
