Keith Renaud's leadoff homer in the eighth the difference as
five Raven pitchers blank Yellow Jackets
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April
18, 2007) - Franklin Pierce, ranked 15th in
this week's Collegiate Baseball magazine Division II poll,
slipped past American International College, 1-0, in Northeast-10
Conference baseball action at AIC Park this afternoon.
Junior Keith Renaud
(Southbridge, Mass./Southbridge) lifted Franklin Pierce to
its 15th win over its last 16 outings as his leadoff
home run in the top of the eighth inning provided the difference.
American International out-hit the Ravens 10-8 and stranded 12
runners on base compared to nine for Franklin
Pierce.
Five Raven pitchers combined to
scatter the ten Yellow Jacket hits in the combined shutout. Senior
Clay Jenkins (Easton, N.H./Profile) picked up his
second win of the year (2-0) with an inning and a third of two-hit
shutout relief, walking one. Junior Tyler Bishop (Milford,
N.H./Milford) worked the final inning and two thirds and
retired all five batters he faced with three strikeouts to collect
his program-record sixth save of the season. Bishop breaks the
previous save mark of five set by 2005 Tampa Bay Devil Rays draft
pick Matt Fisher in 2005.
No Franklin Pierce batters
collected multiple hits as Renaud (sixth home run) and junior
Matt Anderson (Medford, Mass./Medford), who
doubled, notched the game's lone extra base
hits.
Senior Kim Hart (Gorham,
Maine/Gorham) made history with his lead off walk in the
eighth inning, becoming the all-time walks leader in Franklin
Pierce history with 85. Hart, who leads the team with 23 walks this
season, surpasses the previous record held by Mal Higgins who
walked 84 times from 1999-2001.
Junior Patrick Salmon
(Worcester, Mass./St. John's of Shrewsbury) took the loss
(0-2) for American International, yielding the single earned run on
four hits without a walk and three strikeouts over three innings.
Yellow Jackets starter, freshman Nick Noblit (Westfield,
Mass./St. Mary's) scattered four hits and four walks over
six scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
Junior Jeff Rustico
(Plantsville, Conn./Southington) hit 3-for-5 for AIC,
while classmate David Dest (Orange, Conn./Amity
Regional) was 2-3 with a walk.
Franklin Pierce (28-5, 13-1 NE-10)
is back in action tomorrow when it hosts Pace University in a key
Northeast-10 twi-night doubleheader at Dr. Arthur & Martha
Pappas Field beginning at 2 p.m. American International (6-17, 2-11
NE-10) hosts Merrimack College for a doubleheader tomorrow at 1:30
p.m.
Boxscore
& Play-by-Play
