Rivers delivers walk off
RBI double for 1-0 victory in game one Hart's eighth inning
double keys Ravens 4-3 win in nightcap
RINDGE, N.H. (April 21,
2007) - Franklin Pierce, ranked 9th in this
week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA)
Division II poll and 15th in the Collegiate
Baseball magazine Division II rankings, collected a key
Northeast-10 Conference baseball sweep of Bryant University at Dr.
Arthur and Martha Pappas Field this evening. Franklin Pierce posted
a walk off 1-0 victory in game one, before holding off Bryant 4-3
in the nightcap.
Franklin Pierce secured both
victories by scoring in their final at bats. Freshman Kevin
Rivers (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern) delivered a walk
off RBI double in the Ravens game one victory, while senior
Kim Hart (Gorham, Maine/Gorham) doubled and scored
in the eighth to lift the Ravens in game two.
Senior Vinny Pennell
(Spencer, Mass./David Prouty) hit a combined 4-for-7 with
a pair of doubles, two runs scored and an RBI for Franklin Pierce,
while junior Keith Renaud (Southbridge,
Mass./Southbridge) was a combined 3-7 with a pair of
doubles and two RBI.
Freshman Nick Campbell
(Raynham, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham) hit a combined
4-for-10 for Bryant with two doubles and two RBI.
Franklin Pierce 1, Bryant
0
Freshman Kevin Rivers' one-out double to left scored
junior Kevin Renaud (Southbridge,
Mass./Southbridge), who led off with a double, with the
only run of the game in the bottom of the ninth to lift Franklin
Pierce to a 1-0 victory in the opener.
Sophomore left-hander Tom
Cote (Swanzey, N.H./Monadnock Regional) and senior
Clay Jenkins (Easton, N.H./Profile) combined on
the five-hit shutout for Franklin Pierce. Jenkins picked up his
third win of the season (3-1) with 6.2 innings of two-hit shutout
relief, posting three strikeouts and walking just one. Cote allowed
three walks and three hits over the first 2.2 innings and struck
out two.
Rivers finished 2-for-4 with the
double and RBI for the Ravens, while Vinny Pennell hit 2-for-3 with
a double. Sophomore Cliff Hicks (Merrimack,
N.H./Merrimack) also chipped in with a double.
Junior right-hander Eric
Loh (Old Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) was the hard-luck
losing pitcher for Bryant (4-2), surrendering the one earned run on
seven hits and two walks with no strikeouts in the complete game
effort.
No Bryant batters posted multiple
hits in the game and the Bulldogs were held without an extra-base
hit as well, but did strand ten runners on base.
Jenkins relieved Cote in the third
inning after the sophomore lefty had loaded the bases with Bulldogs
with one out. Jenkins got a pair of fly outs to squash the threat.
Bryant loaded the bases again in the sixth with two out, but again
came up empty, leaving the door open for Franklin Pierce's
game-winning ninth.
BOXSCORE
& PLAY-BY-PLAY
Franklin Pierce 4, Bryant
3
Franklin Pierce held off a Bryant rally and again took the
lead for good with a single run in its last at bat, this time in
the eighth, for a 4-3 victory in the nightcap.
Kim Hart sparked the go-ahead
eighth with a one out double and scored one batter later when
senior Jake Christman (Newton, Mass./Newton South)
reached on an error.
Keith Renaud led Franklin Pierce as
he hit 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBI. Vinny Pennell
was 2-4 with a double, RBI and two runs scored, while Hart finished
1-3 with a walk and run
scored.
Junior reliever Tyler
Bishop (Milford, N.H./Milford) picked up his first win of
the season (1-0) with 2.2 innings of strong relief for Ravens
starter Arric Mather (Danville, N.H./Winnacunnet).
Bishop surrendered just a hit and a walk, while striking out three.
Mather yielded three earned runs on nine hits with three strikeouts
and two walks over the first 6.1 innings.
Nick Campbell hit 3-for-5 for
Bryant with a pair of doubles and two RBI, while sophomore
Dave Muscatello (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) was
2-4 with a double and run scored.
Freshman reliever Eric
Polvani (Wallingford, Conn./Sheehan) suffered his first
loss of the season (4-1), allowing the one earned run on two hits
with a strikeout in two innings of work. Bulldogs sophomore starter
Kevin Cobb (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxboro) allowed
three earned runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and two walks
over six innings.
Franklin Pierce opened the scoring
with a pair of runs in the third. Cliff Hicks led off with a single
and later scored on a single by Pennell, who scored on a double by
Keith Renaud. Bryant cut the lead in half in the fourth as freshman
Taylor Ferguson (Charlton, Mass./St. John's)
walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a passed
ball, before scoring on junior Jason Alexander's (Simsbury,
Conn./Simsbury) two-out double.
The Ravens regained their two-run
lead in the fifth with back-to-back doubles by Pennell and Keith
Renaud to lead off the inning. The Bulldogs drew even with two in
the seventh. Muscatello and sophomore Pat McKenna (Orange,
Conn./Amity) sparked the rally with a single and double
with one out, respectively, before Campbell delivered a two-run
double.
Boxscore
& Play-by-Play
Franklin Pierce (32-6, 17-2 NE-10)
and Bryant (23-15, 16-6 NE-10) conclude their three-game weekend
series with a single game in Smithfield, R.I., tomorrow at 1 p.m.
