Three Raven hurlers combine on one hit shutout, offense pounds
out 14 hits
RINDGE, N.H. (April 3,
2007) - Franklin Pierce, ranked seventh in this week's
National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division
II poll and 14th in the Collegiate Baseball
magazine poll, had three pitchers combine on a one-hit shutout in
an 8-0 victory over Bentley College in Northeast-10 Conference
baseball action at Dr. Arthur & Martha Pappas Field this
afternoon.
The win is the seventh-straight for
Franklin Pierce, who reach the 20-win mark in its 24th
outing of the year - the earliest in program history. Three Raven
pitchers combined to hold Bentley to just a single hit and just
three base runners total (only one of which advanced past first
base), while the offense banged out 14
hits.
Junior right-hander Keith
Renaud (Southbridge, Mass./Southbridge) scattered the one
hit and two walks over 6.2 innings with seven strikeouts to collect
his third win of the season (3-0). Renaud also went 2-for-4 at the
plate with a pair of stolen bases and a run scored.
Sophomore Mike Adams
(Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) and senior Neil
Cacciola (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield) didn't allow a
single base runner over the final 2.1 innings, with Adams fanning
two of the four batters he faced.
Junior Matt Anderson
(Medford, Mass./Medford) led the Ravens offense, going
3-for-5 with a double, RBI and run scored. Senior Vinny
Pennell (Spencer, Mass./David Prouty) was 2-5 with a
stolen base, run scored and two RBI, while classmate Cory
Shepherd (Worcester, Mass./Burncoat) finished 2-4 with a
double, two steals and an RBI. Senior Jake Christman
(Newton, Mass./Newton South) chipped in with two
RBI.
Junior catcher Joe Nardi
(West Hartford, Conn./Hall) collected the lone Bentley hit
and finished 1-for-2 with a walk. Grad student Brian
Fioretti (Huntington, N.Y./St. Anthony's) took the loss
(3-4), yielding two earned runs on six hits with three strikeouts
and three walks in five innings.
Franklin Pierce got on the board in
the second inning as Anderson led off with a double and later
scored on a two-out single to left by Christman. The Ravens added
another in the third when Pennell singled up the middle with one
out, advanced to third on a single from Keith Renaud, and then
stole home when Fioretti attempted a pickoff of Renaud at first.
Franklin Pierce struck again in the
sixth as Shepherd delivered an RBI single with two out. The Ravens
broke the game open with five in the seventh (just two earned).
Pennell's two-run single capped the inning, while Anderson added an
RBI single and Christman drew a bases-loaded walk.
Franklin Pierce (20-4, 5-0 NE-10)
and Bentley (8-17, 4-4 NE-10) are scheduled to concluded their
two-game midweek series in Waltham on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. The
Ravens makeup game at the College of Saint Rose scheduled for
tomorrow has been postponed (no date).
Boxscore
& Play-by-Play
