Owls six-run fourth offsets three Raven homers, including two
from Olson
RINDGE, N.H. (April 29,
2005) - Southern Connecticut State University, ranked No.
26 in this week's Collegiate Baseball magazine Division II
poll, scored six runs in the fourth inning and held off No. 29
Franklin Pierce the rest of the way to post an 8-4 victory in a
battle between the top two teams in the Northeast-10 Conference and
Northeast Region at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field this
afternoon.
With the win, Southern clinches a
key regular season series sweep of its three-game series with
Franklin Pierce.
Senior Tyler Call
(Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) paced the Owls offense,
as he was 3-for-5 with a double, stolen base, RBI and two runs
scored. Junior Joe Pagan (Bridgeport,
Conn./Central) was 2-6 with a pair of doubles and two
RBI, while senior Joe DeRubeis (Milford,
Conn./Danbury) was 2-4. Sophomore Sean
Morgan (Maynard, Mass./Maynard) batted 1-5 with a
pair of RBI.
Junior left-hander Jeff
Farrell (Naugatuck, Conn./Naugatuck) improved to 5-0
on the season, allowing four earned runs on eight hits with nine
strikeouts and a walk over eight
innings.
Sophomore Garrett Olson
(Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) provided nearly all of
Franklin Pierce's offense as he hit 3-for-5 with a pair of home
runs and three RBI. Junior Mike Chambers (Londonderry,
N.H./Londonderry) added a homer, while classmate
Shawn Hayes (Charlton, Mass./Holy Name)
extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a bunt single in the
fourth.
Sophomore right-hander
Clay Jenkins (Easton, N.H./Profile)
suffered the loss (1-1), yielding five earned runs on three hits
and five walks with five strikeouts over 3.2 innings of work.
Franklin Pierce staked out a 2-0
lead thanks to a pair of solo homers from Olson in the first and
third innings. The homer left center in the first marked the
17th time this season the Ravens have scored in the
first inning (13-4 record).
Southern erupted for six in the
fourth to take the lead for good. Jenkins retired the first two
batters of the inning, but walked the bases loaded. Morgan laced a
two-run single through the left side to knot the score at two runs
apiece, and then Call followed with an RBI single before Pagan
launched a two-run double to center to greet reliever
Matt Fisher (Athol, Mass./Athol). The
inning was extended with an error and the Owls took advantage as
senior Jeremy Terni (Uncasville,
Conn./Montville) drove in a run with an infield hit.
The Owls added a single run in the
sixth as Call walked with one out and later scored on a sacrifice
fly from sophomore Nick Czekja (Branford,
Conn./Branford). Franklin Pierce scratched back into
the game with single runs in the seventh and eighth. Olson smacked
an RBI single up the middle before Chambers belted his sixth homer
of the season to lead off the eighth. The Owls rounded out the
scoring with a run in the ninth aided by an errant Ravens throw.
Franklin Pierce (22-10, 16-7 NE-10)
returns to action tomorrow afternoon when it opens a three-game
weekend series with UMass Lowell with a doubleheader at Dr. Pappas
Field beginning at noon. Tomorrow will also mark the official
dedication of Dr. Pappas Field with a ribbon-cutting ceremony
beginning at 11:30 a.m. Southern Connecticut (21-9, 18-4 NE-10)
travels to Southern New Hampshire University for a doubleheader
tomorrow at noon.
BOXSCORE
& PLAY-BY-PLAY
