Hendricks drives in three runs over two games

Game One Box Score (unofficial)
Game Two Box Score (unofficial)

LANTANA, Fla. (March 14, 2010) – Senior right fielder Phil Hendricks (Pittsfield, Mass.) drove in three runs in the first game and sophomore catcher Mike Dowd (East Bridgewater, Mass.) hit a three-run home run in the second game on Sunday afternoon to lead the No. 14/19 Franklin Pierce University to a neutral-site, non-conference doubleheader sweep of Felician at Santaluces Sports Complex. The Ravens won the first game, 5-4, and took the second game (a seven-inning contest), 16-14.

With the wins, Franklin Pierce improves to 6-1 (0-0 Northeast-10), while Felician falls to 7-10 (0-0 Central Atlantic) with the losses.

Franklin Pierce opened the first game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, Dowd and junior left fielder Mike Munoz (Bronx, N.Y.) knocked back-to-back singles. Both would come around to score on a two-run single by Hendricks. From there, the Ravens would not score again until the bottom half of the eighth.

In the meantime, Felician evened things up with a run each in the top of the second and the top of the fourth. In the second, senior right fielder Phil Messerian singled and later came in to score on an RBI single by junior second baseman Mickey Zudonyi. In the fourth, sophomore first baseman Chris Fogleman clubbed a one-out double and would later score an unearned run, thanks to a pair of Franklin Pierce errors.

Felician would briefly take a 4-2 lead in the top of the eighth inning. Sophomore designated hitter Victor Monteagudo worked a lead-off walk and freshman left fielder Joe Petosa followed with a single. Both runs would come around to score on a pair of sacrifice hits and another walk later in the inning.

Franklin Pierce tied the game again with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Junior third baseman Derek Ingui (Sterling, Mass.) led off with a single and moved around to third on a double by Munoz. Ingui would score on an RBI groundout by graduate student first baseman Mike Augustine (Kingston, N.Y.), and Munoz later scored on an RBI double by Hendricks.

After junior right-hander Rob Nicholas (Southborough, Mass.) faced just three batters in the top of the ninth, the Ravens won the game with a run in the bottom of the inning. With one out, freshman center fielder Nick LaCroix (Grafton, Mass.) knocked a double and immediately scored on a walk-off, RBI double by senior second baseman Cody Kauffman (Blue Bell, Pa.).

Freshman right-hander Joe Flynn (Plymouth, Mass.) started on the mound and did not factor in the decision for Franklin Pierce. Over three-plus innings, he allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits, walked one and struck out four. Nicholas recorded the final six outs of the game, allowed one run on one hit, walked one and struck out one.

The second game was a barn-burner, as the teams combined for 30 runs in just seven innings. With the game tied 10-10 heading for the seventh and final inning, Franklin Pierce rattled off six runs on five hits in the top half of the inning to open up a 16-10 lead. Dowd clubbed a three-run home run early in the inning, and sophomore designated hitter Ben Benigno (Trumbull, Conn.) capped the rally with a three-run triple later.

Felician mounted a rally of its own in the bottom half of the seventh, but would fall short of completing the comeback. With the aid of three Franklin Pierce errors, Felician pushed across four runs, but eventually left the tying run on first, as freshman left-hander Matt Malcuit (Canton, Mass.) forced a pop-up and recorded a strikeout to notch his first career save. Graduate student right-hander Sean Keeler (Cazenovia, N.Y.) picked up the win in relief in the second game for the Ravens.

The Ravens return to the field on Monday, March 15, when they play a pair of neutral-site, non-conference contests at Santaluces Sports Complex. Franklin Pierce will face Nyack at 10:30 a.m. and Saint Michael's at 2:30 p.m.