Freshman Alicia Dean reaches base three times in game one with
an RBI double and two walks
CLERMONT, Fla. (March 22, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce
University softball team concluded its 2012 Spring Break Trip to
the state of Florida on Thursday with a pair of tough losses to
Sioux Falls in a doubleheader at the National Training Center in
Clermont. The Ravens, as they have done the entire trip, battled
hard over the 14 combined innings on Thursday, but dropped a 4-3
decision in game one and an 8-2 setback in game two.
Head coach Christine
Grenache was pleased with her team's focus and resolve the
entire day as the Ravens tried to battle back from a pair of tough
losses on Wednesday. Overall, she was pleased with how her team
performed in Florida and believes the mistakes that hindered the
squad can be fixed through hard work over the remaining weeks of
the season as Franklin Pierce battles for a bid to the Northeast-10
Conference playoffs.
The Ravens will come back to the
Northeast with a 1-1 record in league play, which is good for a tie
for sixth place in the conference out of 16 teams. Franklin Pierce
split its doubleheader with UMass-Lowell in Florida last weekend,
including picking up a 1-0 win over the River Hawks in the first
game of a doubleheader.
The first game of Thursday's
doubleheader versus Sioux Falls saw the Ravens get off to a great
start as they pushed across a pair of runs in the bottom of the
first inning. Senior Jayme Bilafer (Concord,
Mass.) got things started when she doubled to right-center
field and came around to score as freshman Alicia Dean
(Danvers, Mass.) followed by blasting a double of her own
to left-center. Junior Jessica Furtado (Taunton,
Mass.) stepped to the plate later in the frame, and she
too, delivered a double down the left-field line to plate Dean for
the 2-0 Franklin Pierce advantage.
The Ravens tacked on a run in the
second when senior Rachel Baxter (Cumberland,
R.I.) stroked a one-out single and moved to third as
sophomore Jamie Wiley (Cape Vincent, N.Y.) tapped
a double to right center. Bilafer followed and brought home Baxter
with a sacrifice bunt to make it 3-0 Ravens.
Sioux Falls, though, countered with
four runs in the top of the third to pull out the narrow victory.
Franklin Pierce freshman hurler Kaitlyn Johnson (New
Boston, N.H.) started and went 2.2 innings. Classmate
Jessica Colson (Feeding Hills, Mass.) came on in
relief and went the rest of the way without yielding an earned run
and striking out four. Dean reached base three times in the game as
she drew a pair of walks to go along with her first-inning
double.
The Ravens went right back at Sioux
Falls to start game two and scored a pair of runs in the top of the
fourth inning to break a scoreless tie. Senior Jamie Verner
(Natick, Mass.) started the rally with a single and moved
up to second as freshman Karissa Forzese (Methuen,
Mass.) drew a walk. Baxter stroked a single to load the
bases and Wiley blasted a two-run double, plating both Verner and
Forzese.
As it had done in the first game,
Sioux Falls responded and scored a run in both the fourth and fifth
innings to tie the game, and then scored six in the sixth to pick
up the victory.
Junior Rachel Allen (Hull,
Mass.) started in the pitching circle for Franklin Pierce
and went 5.2 innings despite suffering the loss.
Franklin Pierce returns to action
Sunday when the Ravens travel to Colchester, Vt. to face Saint
Michael's in a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. The Ravens open up
the home portion of their 2012 schedule the following day on Monday
when they play host to Bentley in a twinbill beginning at 3 p.m. at
the FPU Softball Field.
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).
