Ravens erase early 5-0
deficit; face third-seeded Bryant tomorrow at 3 p.m.
LOWELL, Mass. (May 11,
2007) - Top-seeded Franklin Pierce, ranked ninth in this
week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA)
Division II poll and 14th in the Collegiate
Baseball magazine rankings, rallied from a 5-0 deficit after
three innings of play to claim a walkoff 7-6 victory over
fourth-seeded Pace University in game four of the 2007 Northeast-10
Conference baseball championships, hosted by the University of
Massachusetts Lowell, at LeLacheur Park tonight.
Franklin Pierce (42-8, 26-4 NE-10)
will face third-seeded Bryant University in a winner's bracket
semifinal tomorrow here at 3 p.m. Bryant upset second-seeded UMass
Lowell 5-4 in 14 innings in today's first game. Pace (29-25, 18-12
NE-10) and UMass Lowell will square off in an elimination game at
11 a.m.
Franklin Pierce junior
Kevin Renaud (Southbridge, Mass./Southbridge)
drove in the winning run with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly that
scored pinch runner Mike Dombrowski (Agawam,
Mass./Springfield Cathedral) to cap the rally in the
bottom of the ninth.
The win was the 300th
career victory for Franklin Pierce head coach Jayson
King, who is now 300-202-1 (.597) in 11 seasons. He has
posted a 279-155-1 (.643) record in nine seasons at the Ravens
helm.
The Renaud twins paced the Franklin
Pierce attack as Kevin finished 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs
scored and two RBI. Keith was 2-3 with an RBI and run scored.
Sophomore Scott Savastano (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth
North) hit 1-2 with an RBI, while junior Matt
Anderson (Medford, Mass./Medford) finished 1-4 with a
double and two RBI.
Junior reliever Tyler
Bishop (Milford, N.H./Milford) picked up the win (2-0)
with 2.2 strong innings of relief, yielding just two walks with
five strikeouts to close out the contest. Ravens starter
Mike Adams (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park)
allowed five earned runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and a
walk over the first three innings. Senior Clay Jenkins
(Easton, N.H./Profile) turned in 3.1 strong innings of
relief work for the Ravens, allowing just an unearned run on three
hits with four strikeouts.
Junior Jack Cawley (Bronx,
N.Y./Iona Prep) was 2-for-5 for Pace with two RBI. Junior
Neil Ross (Cortland Manor, N.Y./Dominican) hit 2-4
with an RBI, while classmate Joe Barracato (Westbury,
N.Y./Clarke) batted 2-3 with an RBI and run scored.
Freshman MacKenzie King
(Blairstown, N.J./North Warren Regional) suffered the loss
in relief for the Setters (5-2), allowing just the one earned run
on two hits with three strikeouts and a walk over the final 2.1
innings. Senior starter Angelo Fusaro (Stamford,
Conn./Westhill) surrendered three earned runs on five hits
with a walk and three strikeouts over five
innings.
Pace scored single runs in the
first two innings after two outs were recorded in each frame. The
Setters widened the gap to five in the third as Barracato collected
an RBI single up the middle and Cawley notched a two-run single.
Franklin Pierce began mounting its
comeback in the fourth with three runs. Savastano drove in the
Ravens first run with a sacrifice fly and Anderson added a two-run
double off the wall in left.
Pace regained a three-run cushion
in the fifth as junior Chris Brown (West Kingston,
R.I./South Kingstown) scored when senior Adam
Harwood (Los Angeles, Calif./Brentwood) reached on a
Franklin Pierce error.
Franklin Pierce closed within two
as Kevin Renaud smashed his sixth home run of the season to left
center with one out in the sixth. Renaud's at bat was extended when
Harwood dropped a foul ball. The Ravens knotted the score with two
in the seventh. Senior Jake Christman (Newton, Mass./Newton
South) drew a leadoff walk and later scored when King had
the ball slip out of his hand on a delivery with the bases loaded
and one out. Keith Renaud drove in the tying run with a sac fly to
right.
Boxscore
& Play-by-Play
