Ravens rally after slow start with 16-hit offensive
attack
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (April
30, 2007) - Franklin Pierce, ranked 17th in
this week's Collegiate Baseball magazine Division II poll,
overcame an early 3-1 deficit and snapped a two-game skid with a
9-4 victory at Merrimack College in Northeast-10 Conference
baseball action at Warrior Field today.
Franklin Pierce collected 16 hits as
all ten Ravens that went to the plate hit safely and the bottom
half of the lineup notched nine hits. Senior Kim Hart
(Gorham, Maine/Gorham) was 3-for-4 with a double, RBI and
run scored, while junior Matt Anderson (Medford,
Mass./Medford) hit 2-5 with a double, home run and two
RBI. Senior Cory Shepherd (Worcester,
Mass./Burncoat) batted 2-5 with a double and RBI, while
classmate Jake Christman (Newton, Mass./Newton
South) finished 2-4 with two runs scored. Sophomore
Scott Savastano (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North)
chipped in two hits, including a double, and RBI.
Senior Clay Jenkins (Easton,
N.H./Profile) picked up his fifth win of the season (5-1)
in relief for Franklin Pierce, scattering five hits and a walk over
5.1 innings of work with four strikeouts.
Senior Rick Sotiropoulos
(Ipswich, Mass./Ipswich) led Merrimack as he hit 2-for-4
with a triple, RBI and run scored. Sophomore Bob McCarthy
(Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) was also 2-4, while junior
Mike Chandler (Hamilton, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham)
finished 1-4 with two RBI.
Freshman Dylan Ellis
(Gloucester, Mass./Gloucester) took the loss (3-2) on the
mound, surrendering six runs, five earned, on 11 hits with two
strikeouts and two walks over 6.1 innings of work.
Franklin Pierce opened the scoring
with an unearned run in the top of the first as junior
Keith Renaud (Southbridge, Mass./Southbridge)
singled with one out and later scored on a single to center from
freshman Kevin Rivers (Bristol, Conn./Bristol
Eastern) after the inning was extended because of a
Merrimack error. The Warriors came right back in the home half with
a pair of runs. Ravens starter Tom Cote (Swanzey,
N.H./Monadnock Regional) walked the bases loaded with one
out before Chandler notched a two-run single to
left.
Merrimack extended its lead with a
single run in the second as sophomore Mike Andre (Medford,
Mass./Medford) drew a leadoff walk and later scored on
Sotiropoulos' triple down the right field line. Franklin Pierce
knotted the score with two in the fourth. Shepherd drove in a run
with a single, while Hart scored on a ground out.
The Ravens scored single runs over
the next three innings before breaking it open with two in the
eighth and another in the ninth. Anderson had an RBI double in the
fifth before senior Greg Redding (Kerhonkson, N.Y./Rondout
Valley) launched a pinch-hit solo home run in the sixth.
Anderson added his team-leading eighth homer of the season in the
seventh, while junior Kevin Renaud (Southbridge,
Mass./Southbridge) had an RBI single and Savastano a
run-scoring double to put the Ravens up 8-3 in the eighth. Each
team scored single runs in the ninth to close out the scoring.
Franklin Pierce (39-8, 24-4 NE-10)
is on the road again tomorrow when it visits Southern Connecticut
State University for an NE-10 clash at 3:30 p.m. The Ravens close
out the regular season at Dr. Pappas Field on Wednesday when they
host Saint Anselm College at 3:30 p.m. Merrimack (12-24, 9-16
NE-10) travels to Bentley College tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.
BOXSCORE
& PLAY-BY-PLAY
