Worcester, Mass., native strikes out career-high 18 and posts
fourth no-hitter in program history
RINDGE, N.H. (March 28,
2006) - It may not have been pretty, but junior
right-hander Daniel Fournier (Worcester, Mass./Holy
Name) tossed the fourth no-hitter in program history
to lead Franklin Pierce, ranked 11th in this week's
Collegiate Baseball magazine Division II poll, to an 8-1
victory over Southern Connecticut State University, receiving votes
in this week's national poll, in Northeast-10 Conference baseball
action at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field this afternoon.
Fournier (3-1) struck out a
career-high 18 Southern Connecticut State batters en route to the
fourth no-hitter in program history, the first since Chris Shank's
season-opening no-no against Framingham State College on March 9,
2002. The strikeout total is two shy of Justin Blood's program
record total of 20 set during the 2001 season. Fournier did yield
seven base runners, on a season-high six walks and a hit batter,
one of which scored on wild pitch with two out in the ninth.
Fournier struck out the side twice
and had two strikeouts in seven innings, fanning at least one
batter in every inning but the seventh. Just two Southern batters
managed to get the ball out of the infield with two fly outs to
centerfield coming in the sixth and seventh. 12 of his first 15
outs were via
strikeouts.
While Fournier was keeping
Southern's offense in check, senior Mike Chambers
(Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) was leading the
offensive charge as he hit 3-for-4 with a double, home run and
three RBI. Freshman Scott Savastano (Plymouth,
Mass./Plymouth North) was 2-3 with a triple, stolen
base and RBI, while junior All-American Garrett Olson
(Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) finished 1-3 with a run
scored and stolen base to extend his hitting streak to a team-best
13 games.
Senior lefthander Matt
Hennessey (Wallingford, Conn./Lyman Hall) suffered
the loss for Southern (2-2) as he allowed six earned runs on seven
hits with two strikeouts and a walk in 6.1 innings of work.
Sophomore Joe Kahlden
(Norwalk, Conn./Fairfield Prep) entered the game as a
pinch hitter in the ninth, and was hit by a Fournier pitch. He
advanced to second on a walk, and then two wild pitches brought him
around for the Owls lone
run.
Franklin Pierce opened the scoring
in the second as junior Vinny Pennell (Spencer,
Mass./David Prouty) singled and later scored on a
Matt Anderson (Medford, Mass./Medford)
ground out. The Ravens took a two-run lead in the fourth when
junior Kim Hart (Gorham, Maine/Gorham)
singled and scored on Savastano's triple with two out. Franklin
Pierce added another run in the sixth when Chambers smacked
Hennessey's first pitch of the inning over the wall in left for his
fourth homer of the year.
Franklin Pierce broke the game open
with a five-run seventh. A Randy Fenton (Worcester,
Mass./Doherty) double was sandwiched between a hit
batter and intentional walk to load the bases and chase Hennessey.
Sophomore reliever Justin Cox (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh
Free) entered the game for the Owls and walked the
first batter he faced, senior Elliott Shea (Jaffrey,
N.H./Conant), on four-straight pitches to bring one
run in.
Chambers followed with a two-run
double, with a third run scoring on the play when Southern's
leftfielder misplayed the ball. Chambers would later score on a
sacrifice fly from senior All-American Bryan Duplissie
(East Swanzey, N.H./Monadnock Regional) after
reaching third on a passed ball to round out the Ravens scoring.
Franklin Pierce (16-4, 1-0 NE-10)
and Southern Connecticut, ranked third in the Northeast Region,
complete their two-game midweek series on Thursday in New Haven,
Conn., at 3 p.m.
Boxscore
& Play-by-Play
