Just the second time in program history the Ravens start off
the season at 2-0
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Freshman pitcher Kaitlyn Johnson picked up the win in each of
her first two collegiate appearances in the circle. She pitched a
complete-game shutout win over UMass-Lowell on Saturday.
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CLERMONT, Fla. (March 17,
2012) -- The Franklin Pierce University softball team
opened up its 2012 season in fine fashion on Friday and Saturday
with two wins in its first three games at the National Training
Center in Clermont, Fla. The Ravens downed Bridgeport, 7-3, in the
season opener on Friday night and then split its Northeast-10
Conference doubleheader with UMass-Lowell on Saturday, including a
1-0 win in game one and a tough 2-0 setback in game two. The Ravens
are 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the NE-10 and are currently on their
annual spring break trip to the state of Florida.
The two-consecutive wins to open
the season marked the first time since 2006 and just the second
time in program history that feat was accomplished. The 2006 start,
however, came against two Division III programs. This year's
outstanding start comes under the guidance of first-year head coach
Christine Grenache.
The Ravens exploded for seven runs
in Friday night's win over the Purple Knights and it all started in
the first inning when junior catcher Jessica Furtado
(Taunton, Mass.) doubled home a pair of runs to make it
2-0 Franklin Pierce.
Franklin Pierce tacked on a run in
the second and two more in the third, but found itself leading by a
slim 5-3 margin heading into the sixth inning. Senior catcher
Jamie Verner (Natick, Mass.) broke it open and
sealed the victory as she singled home two runs to set the final
margin. Freshman first baseman Alicia Dean (Danvers,
Mass.) drew two walks in the game and scored twice in her
collegiate debut.
In the pitching circle, freshman
Kaitlyn Johnson (New Boston, N.H.) got the start
and went 2.0 innings to earn the win. She struck out three in her
collegiate debut.
Johnson turned in a spectacular
performance in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader against
UMass-Lowell (1-0 victory) as she went all seven innings and
scattered six hits with seven strikeouts and two walks to earn the
complete-game shutout victory to improve to 2-0 on the season. She
retired the River Hawks in order in the second, third and fifth
innings.
The Ravens got the only run it
needed in the fifth inning when senior outfielder Rachel
Baxter (Cumberland, R.I.) singled to left field to bring
in sophomore pinch runner Megan Bird (Laconia,
N.H.). Sophomore Ashley Noke (Cumberland,
R.I.) and Baxter each had two hits in the game, while Dean
collected the Ravens other hit.
In game two, the Ravens had their
chances, but couldn't come up with the necessary runs in a tough
2-0 setback to the River Hawks. Six different Ravens pounded out a
hit, but Lowell pitcher Courtney Lanfranchi yielded just six hits
with five strikeouts and no walks over 7.0 innings of work to earn
the victory. Ali Ferraro and Krista MacKenzie each drove in a run
for the River Hawks. Ferraro had an outstanding day at the plate
going 3-for-3. Junior pitcher Rachel Allen (Hull,
Mass.) took the loss in the circle for the Ravens.
Franklin Pierce returns to action
Sunday when the Ravens take on Merrimack in a non-conference game
at 11 a.m., and then face NYIT at 1 p.m.
For more information on Franklin
Pierce softball, please visit the team's page at
athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further,
please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube
(www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter
(www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook
(www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens).
