"Inaugural Night Game" welcomes
record crowd as Vazquez holds off Penmen
RINDGE, N.H. (April 20,
2007) - Franklin Pierce, ranked 9th in this
week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA)
Division II poll and 12th in the Collegiate
Baseball magazine rankings, slipped past Southern New
Hampshire University, 3-2, in Northeast-10 Conference baseball
action before a record crowd of 1,000 as the centerpiece of
festivities surrounding the "Inaugural Night Baseball Game" at Dr.
Arthur and Martha Pappas Field tonight.
Following tonight's game, Atlas
Pyrotechnics of Jaffrey produced a five-minute fireworks display
that honored the victims and families of the Virginia Tech Tragedy
in recognition of "Hokie Hope" Day. The majority of colors in the
display were the Hokies' Orange & Maroon colors.
In the game, freshman right-hander
Kyle Vazquez (Berlin, Conn./Berlin) earned his
first collegiate win (1-0), virtually silencing the Southern New
Hampshire bats after entering the game in the third inning with the
bases loaded in relief of junior starter Jeff Paulsen
(Framingham, Mass./Framingham). Vazquez held the Penmen to
just two hits and two walks over 6.1 scoreless innings, striking
out a career-best eight.
Junior catcher Matt
Anderson (Medford, Mass./Medford) helped pace the Ravens
offense as he hit 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Classmate
Keith Renaud (Southbridge, Mass./Southbridge) was
2-for-4 with a stolen base and run scored, while sophomore
Cliff Hicks (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack) batted 1-3
with a double and
RBI.
Senior right-hander Rob
Hennessy (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) pitched well
in defeat for Southern New Hampshire, falling to 1-4 on the year.
He allowed the three earned runs on seven hits with eight
strikeouts and a walk in the eight inning complete game effort.
Junior Bill Murray (Canton,
Mass.) hit 2-for-3 with a run scored for the Penmen, while
senior Rich Russell (Swanzey, N.H./Monadnock) was
1-3 with a pair of walks and a run scored. Sophomore Jeff
Giannino (Beverly, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) chipped in with
an RBI.
Hicks followed a two-out triple to
right-center by senior Jake Christman (Newton, Mass./Newton
South) with a double down the rightfield line to drive in
the deciding run for Franklin Pierce in the seventh.
Franklin Pierce jumped ahead with a
pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Twin brothers
Keith and Kevin Renaud (Southbridge,
Mass./Southbridge) delivered back-to-back singles with one
out, and after completing a double steal of second and third,
scored Anderson's ground-rule double to right
center.
Southern New Hampshire, who
stranded eight runners on base for the night, threatened in the top
of the first with Russell and Murray reaching to leadoff the
inning, but was unable to score until knotting the score with a
pair in the third, chasing Paulsen in the process.
Paulsen retired the first two
batters of the inning before Russell and Murray sparked the rally
with back-to-back singles. Russell came all the way around from
first on Murray's single down the leftfield line, aided by an error
by Kevin Renaud in left. Paulsen walked the next two batters to
load the bases and was down a ball to Giannino before being lifted
for Vazquez. Giannino waited out three-straight balls from Vazquez
to force the bases-loaded walk before the freshman reliever was
able to escape the jam with a ground out, stranding three
runners.
SNHU had its best chance to take a
lead in the sixth, putting runners on second and third with one
out. Vazquez struck out the next two Penmen batters to squash the
threat and retired 11 of the final 12 batters he faced, fanning two
in a one-two-three ninth.
Franklin Pierce (30-6, 15-2 NE-10)
opens a key three-game NE-10 weekend series against Bryant
University, ranked third in the Northeast Region, with a twi-night
doubleheader at Dr. Pappas Field tomorrow beginning at 3 p.m.
Southern New Hampshire (6-11-1, 5-10-1 NE-10) is off until game two
of its series with the Ravens on Monday at Penmen Field at 3:30
p.m.
Boxscore
& Play-by-Play
