Ravens post fourth-straight shutout victory, Shea breaks
single-season stolen base mark
RINDGE, N.H. (April 26,
2006) - Franklin Pierce, ranked 13th in this
week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA)
poll and 16th in this week's Collegiate
Baseball magazine Division II poll, posted its fourth-straight
shutout with a 2-0 decision over Pace University in Northeast-10
Conference baseball action at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field
this afternoon.
Franklin Pierce has not allowed a
run in its last 39 innings of work over the record four shutouts,
plus three innings in last Thursday's 7-1 victory at American
International. Six of the Ravens last eight wins have been by
shutout and they have won five-straight overall, 12 of 13 and 17 of
19.
Junior right-hander
Arric Mather (Danville, N.H./Winnacunnet)
picked up his seventh win of the season (7-1), scattering seven
hits and two walks over seven-plus innings of work, striking out
seven. Senior Mike Farrell (Russell, Mass./Gateway
Regional) collected his second save of the spring
with two perfect innings, striking out three. He entered the game
with two on and none out in the eighth, working out of the jam
unscathed.
Senior Elliot Shea
(Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) sparked the Ravens offense,
going 2-for-4 with a double, run scored and two stolen bases. The
steals were his Conference-leading 25th and
26th of the season, breaking teammate Vinny
Pennell's (Spencer, Mass./David Prouty) single-season
record of 24 last season. Shea had two of the Ravens four hits on
the afternoon, as they were out-hit 7-4 by Pace. Junior
Kim Hart (Gorham, Maine/Gorham) finished
1-3 with an
RBI.
Sophomore Matt Arburr
(Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern) led Pace as he hit
1-for-3 with a double. Junior Matt Bisbano (Mt. Kisco,
N.Y./Fox Lane) and sophomore Chris Brown
(West Kingston, R.I./South Kingstown) were both 1-3
as well.
Senior Matt Reilly
(Denville, N.J./Morris Knolls) pitched outstanding in
defeat for Pace (6-3), yielding just the two earned runs on four
hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in a complete-game effort.
Reilly was perfect through three before Shea reached with a double
down the leftfield line off the third baseman's glove.
The game was scoreless until the
sixth when Franklin Pierce was forced to use its bag of tricks in
manufacturing a go-ahead run. Shea singled with two outs, stole
second base (breaking the single-season record) and then reached
third on a single through the left side by senior Mike
Chambers (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry). Chambers
then wandered off first base, drawing a throw to first from Reilly,
which allowed Shea to score on a delayed steal.
The Ravens added an insurance run
in the seventh as senior All-American Bryan Duplissie
(East Swanzey, N.H./Monadnock Regional) drew a
leadoff walk, then reached third on a sacrifice bunt and ground out
before scoring on a single to right from Hart.
Pace threatened in the eighth with
back-to-back singles off Mather to start the frame. However,
Farrell came on and got a fly ball, strikeout and ground out to end
the threat. He retired the side in order in the ninth.
Franklin Pierce (34-9, 19-5 NE-10)
is back in action tomorrow when it hosts Saint Anselm College at
Dr. Pappas Field at 3:30 p.m. Pace (25-15, 10-9 NE-10) hosts the
College of Saint Rose tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.
Boxscore
& Play-by-Play
