Five-run fifth the difference as
Ravens win sixth straight and 11th of 12
RINDGE, N.H. (April 18,
2006) - Franklin Pierce, ranked 15th in both
this week's Collegiate Baseball magazine and National
Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II polls,
used a five-run fifth to post a 5-2 victory over American
International College in Northeast-10 Conference baseball action at
Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field this afternoon.
Junior Arric Mather
(Danville, N.H./Winnacunnet) helped lead Franklin
Pierce to its sixth-straight win and 11th over the last
12 games with eight strong innings to collect his sixth victory of
the season (6-1). Mather yielded an earned run, while scattering
eight hits and a walk with ten strikeouts. It marks the
second-straight game with double-digit strikeouts for the
right-hander. Sophomore Tyler Bishop (Milford,
N.H./Milford) retired the only batter he faced with
the bases loaded in the ninth to pick up his first save of the
season.
Senior Mike Chambers
(Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) paced the Ravens
attack by going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a run scored.
Junior Vinny Pennell (Spencer, Mass./David
Prouty) was 2-3 with a double, stolen base and an
RBI, while senior Randy Fenton (Worcester,
Mass./Doherty) was 1-3 with a pair of RBI, a stolen
base and run scored. Senior All-American Bryan
Duplissie (East Swanzey, N.H./Monadnock Regional) and
freshman Scott Savastano (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth
North) each chipped in with triples.
Junior Tyler Cooke
(Brattleboro, Vt./Brattleboro) was 2-for-5 for
American International with an RBI, while senior Jon
Ferry (Thorndike, Mass./Palmer) finished 1-3 with a
stolen base and run scored. Senior Neal Quesnel (South
Hadley, Mass./South Hadley) was 1-5 with a pair of
stolen bases. The Yellow Jackets ten hits this afternoon are the
most by an NE-10 opponent against Franklin Pierce this season.
Junior Brett Cooley
(Somers, Conn./Somers) suffered his sixth loss of the
season (2-6), allowing five earned runs on ten hits with five
strikeouts over six innings. Seven of the ten hits for the Ravens
came in the decisive fifth inning.
The game was scoreless, with AIC
holding a 6-2 advantage in the hit department, when Franklin struck
in the decisive fifth. Savastano led off with a triple and scored
on Pennell's double down the leftfield line. Fenton delivered a
two-run single, advanced to second on the throw, stole third and
then scored when the throw got past the AIC third baseman. Chambers
doubled and scored on a two-out single from junior All-American
Garrett Olson (Norway, Maine/Oxford
Hills).
AIC got a run back in the seventh
as Ferry drew a leadoff walk, stole second and later scored on a
two-out single up the middle by Cooke. The Yellow Jackets put the
first two batters on in the ninth with a hit batter and Ferry
single, before Franklin Pierce's first reliever Tom
Gilmore (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) struck out
the next three batters. Unfortunately, Cooke reached first to load
the bases on the third strikeout thanks to a wild pitch. AIC took
advantage as junior Bryan Soltis (Plantsville,
Conn./Southington) followed with a pinch-hit single
up the middle before Bishop came on and got the Ravens out of the
jam.
Franklin Pierce (28-8, 13-4 NE-10)
is back in action tomorrow for a key NE-10 doubleheader at Pace
University, ranked sixth in the region by the NCBWA, beginning at 1
p.m. American International (9-18, 5-14 NE-10) is off until
Thursday when it hosts the Ravens in the back end of their two-game
midweek series at 3:30 p.m.
Boxscore
& Play-by-Play
