Ravens reach 40-win mark for second time in program history
with victory
RINDGE, N.H. (May 1, 2007)
- Franklin Pierce, ranked 12th in this week's
National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division
II poll and 17th in the Collegiate Baseball
magazine rankings, cruised to a 15-5 victory at Southern
Connecticut State University in Northeast-10 Conference baseball
action at The Ballpark at SCSU this afternoon.
Junior Kevin Renaud
(Southbridge, Mass./Southbridge) led the Franklin Pierce
attack as he hit 3-for-5 with three doubles, two runs scored and
three RBI. Freshman Kevin Rivers (Bristol, Conn./Bristol
Eastern) was 3-5 with a pair of doubles, two RBI and three
runs scored, while junior Matt Anderson (Medford,
Mass./Medford) finished 2-3 with a double, run scored and
two RBI. Senior Cory Shepherd (Worcester,
Mass./Burncoat) chipped in by going 2-5 with two RBI and a
run scored.
Sophomore Alex Szymanski
(Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) improved to 4-1 this
season as he earned the win by holding Southern Connecticut to just
a hit over 2.1 scoreless innings of work with one strikeout. Ravens
starter Kyle Vazquez (Berlin, Conn./Berlin)
allowed just an unearned run on five hits with three strikeouts and
four walks over the first 4.2 innings.
Junior Chris Barile
(Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem) was 4-for-5 at the plate for
Southern Connecticut with an RBI, while senior Jose Ortiz,
Jr., (Westbury, Conn./Crosby) finished 2-3 with a run
scored and two RBI. The rest of the Owls lineup was a combined
3-for-24 on the afternoon.
Freshman Edward Bethke
(Branford, Conn./Branford) suffered the loss (5-5) as he
was touched for seven runs, six earned, on ten hits with three
strikeouts and a walk over 4.1 innings.
Franklin Pierce jumped on top with
three in the top of the first. Sophomore Scott Savastano
(Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) opened the scoring with
an RBI single to right before Anderson delivered a two-run double
to left center. Southern got a run back in the home half as Ortiz
drew a lead off walk and later scored on a sacrifice fly by
sophomore Michael Diaz (Monroe,
Conn./Masuk).
Franklin Pierce added single runs
in the third and fourth before extending its lead to 8-1 with a
three-run fifth. Rivers notched an RBI single in the fifth, while
Shepherd posted a two-run single to center.
The Ravens broke the game open with
a six-run eighth. Renaud opened the onslaught with a two-run
double. Rivers added an RBI double, while senior Kim Hart
(Gorham, Maine/Gorham) chipped in with an RBI single.
Franklin Pierce added a run in the
top of the ninth, before SCSU gained some consolation with four in
the home half. Ortiz notched a two-run single for the Owls in the
rally.
Franklin Pierce (40-8, 25-4 NE-10)
rounds out the regular season tomorrow when it hosts Saint Anselm
College at 3:30 p.m. The Ravens can clinch at least a share of its
second-straight NE-10 regular season championship with a victory
tomorrow. Southern Connecticut (18-28, 14-14 NE-10) hosts
Bloomfield College for a non-conference contest tomorrow at 3 p.m.
BOXSCORE
& PLAY-BY-PLAY
