Munoz, Hendricks pick up three hits each for Franklin Pierce

Box Score

RINDGE, N.H. (April 16, 2010) – Junior left fielder Mike Munoz (Bronx, N.Y.) hit 3-for-4, drove home two runs and scored twice on Friday afternoon to lead the No. 29 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University baseball team to an 8-6 victory over Concordia in non-conference play at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field. Senior right fielder Phil Hendricks (Pittsfield, Maine) also went 3-for-4 for Franklin Pierce with a pair of doubles, while sophomore right-hander T.J. Ferguson (Westmoreland, N.H.) allowed just one earned run over seven innings.

With the victory, Franklin Pierce completes a sweep of the two-game series with Concordia and improves to 25-10 (11-4 Northeast-10), while Concordia falls to 21-17 (8-7 Central Atlantic) with the loss.

Franklin Pierce opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the second inning. Munoz led off with a line-drive single into center field, stole second and then stole third. He would then score on a sacrifice fly down the right-field line by freshman center fielder Nick LaCroix (Grafton, Mass.).

The Ravens picked up two more runs in the bottom of the fourth to push the lead to 3-0. Sophomore catcher Mike Dowd (East Bridgewater, Mass.) led off with a single into right center, but was erased at second as junior third baseman Derek Ingui (Sterling, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice. Ingui then stole second and scored when Munoz pushed a single over the head of the first baseman. Munoz would power all the way around to score from first when Hendricks followed, clubbed a double over the head of the center fielder and was thrown out at third trying to stretch it into a triple.

Franklin Pierce extended the lead to 5-0 with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, courtesy of two Concordia errors. Graduate student first baseman Mike Augustine (Kingston, N.Y.) led off and reached on an error by the first baseman. Sophomore designated hitter Tim Quinn (Paxton, Mass.) and freshman shortstop Dan Kemp (Sturbridge, Mass.) followed with a bunt single and a hit-by-pitch, respectively, to load the bases. That brought senior second baseman Cody Kauffman (Blue Bell, Pa.) to the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out. He lifted a fly ball to right field, but it was dropped by Concordia freshman right fielder John Pliego, who was able to recover in time to force Kemp at second base, avoiding the error and leaving Kauffman on first with an RBI fielder's choice. Dowd then brought home the second run of the inning with an RBI fielder's choice of his own.

The Ravens scored two runs for the third consecutive inning in the bottom of the sixth to run the lead to 7-0. Hendricks led off, pumped a double into the left-center field gap and then was picked off second but stole third anyway. He would score from there on a line-drive, RBI single to left by Quinn. Quinn then stole second and hustled around third to score on an infield single to the shortstop by Kemp.

Concordia got on the board with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning to cut the lead to 7-2. With one out, senior catcher Greg Conway single to left and then came all the way around to score on a double into the right-center field by junior left fielder Michael Sciacchitano, who wound up on third on a throwing error by Kauffman, who was attempting to throw out Conway at the plate. Sciacchitano would then score from third on a wild pitch.

Franklin Pierce pushed the lead to 8-2 with a run in the home half of the seventh. With one out, Ingui kicked things off when he hammered a triple into the gap in right-center field. He scored when Munoz followed with an RBI single to center to drive home his second run of the game.

Concordia picked up another run in the top of the eighth to make it an 8-3 game. Senior shortstop Donnie Roth started things with a two-out single through the right side of the infield, then stole second and scored on a single back up the middle by junior designated hitter T.J. Walsh.

Concordia rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth inning and brought the tying run to the plate, but came up short, to create the 8-6 final. Sciacchitano kicked off the rally with a single back through the middle and moved to second on a walk to freshman shortstop John Pliego. Senior center fielder Anthony Carnacchio brought home the first run of the inning with a single into left-center that scored Sciacchitano and moved Pliego around to third. After a walk to freshman second baseman Matthew Cintorino loaded the bases, Franklin Pierce senior right-handed closer Rob Nicholas (Southborough, N.Y.) was summoned from the bullpen to face what had become a save situation. Nicholas forced Roth to ground to shortstop for what could have been a game-ending double play, but the throw from Kemp was in the dirt and eluded Augustine from first to allow two runs to score on the play. Nicholas then got Walsh to fly out to right field to end the game.

Ferguson started on the mound and picked up the win (1-1) for Franklin Pierce. Over seven innings of work, he allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits, walked two, threw a wild pitch and struck out two. Nicholas got the final two outs in the ninth inning to chalk up his eighth save of the season.

Freshman left-hander Anthony Pisano took the ball and the loss (4-1) on the rubber for Concordia. Over six innings, the southpaw surrendered seven runs (five earned) on nine hits, did not issue a walk, hit a batter and struck out five.

The Ravens return to the field on Saturday, April 17, when they travel to Pace for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Finnerty Field in Pleasantville, N.Y.