Rachel Allen pitches complete game with six strikeouts and zero
walks in game two
COLCHESTER, Vt. (March 25, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce
University softball team snapped a six-game skid in an impressive
way on Sunday as the Ravens swept Saint Michael's in a doubleheader
in Colchester, Vt. The Ravens downed the Purple Knights 5-2 in game
one and 4-2 in game two to run their record to 5-8 overall, but
more importantly, 3-1 in the Northeast-10. St. Mike's fell to 3-11
and 1-5 in league play.
Freshman first baseman
Laura Eidam (Stamford, Conn.) had an outstanding
day at the dish for the Ravens as she went a combined 4-for-6 in
both games, including driving in three runs in game two. Sophomore
Jamie Wiley (Cape Vincent, N.Y.) went 3-for-7
during both games, drove in three runs in game one and scored
another run in game two. Senior Jayme Bilafer (Concord,
Mass.) had two hits on the day with an RBI and reached
base four times as she also drew a pair of walks. Junior
Jessica Furtado (Taunton, Mass.) had two hits on
the afternoon, while driving in two runs and scoring two more.
Franklin Pierce also got tremendous
performances in the pitching circle, including junior
Rachel Allen (Hull, Mass.), who pitched a complete
game in the day's second contest while scattering six hits,
yielding just one earned run, striking out six and yielding zero
walks.
Freshman Jessica Colson
(Feeding Hills, Mass.) got the start in game one and went
four innings, giving up two runs on six hits. Like Allen, she did
not yield a walk and struck out three of her own. In fact, the
Ravens did not allow a base on balls all afternoon.
Trailing 1-0 and heading into the
third inning of game one, the Ravens exploded for four runs in the
frame to kick-start their impressive afternoon. Furtado drove in
the first two runs with a single to left field, which plated senior
Meaghan O'Neal (Littleton, Mass.) and freshman
Alicia Dean (Danvers, Mass.) on the play. O'Neal
reached by leading off the frame with a single and Dean drew a walk
a couple of batters later. Junior Megan Bird (Laconia,
N.H.) advanced both runners into scoring position as she
stroked a single through the left side. Wiley followed Furtado at
the plate and brought her and Bird in to score as she smashed a
double to left-center field.
St. Mike's got a run back in the
fourth on an RBI single from Sarah Murray, but that was the last
threat by the Purple Knights in game one.
Franklin Pierce tacked on an
insurance run in the fifth as Dean drew a lead-off walk and came
around to score a few batters later on Wiley's RBI infield
single.
Freshman Kaitlyn Johnson
(New Boston, N.H.) came on in relief of Colson in the
bottom of the fifth and did not allow a hit over her three innings
of work to earn her first career save.
Franklin Pierce got the scoring
started in game two as it plated a run in both the second and third
innings and pushed across a pair in the fifth to earn the
victory.
Bilafer delivered a two-out RBI
single to right-center field in the second inning, which plated
senior Jamie Verner (Natick, Mass.), who reached
via an infield single to lead off the frame. Verner was able to get
into scoring position for Bilafer's at-bat as Eidam lined a base
hit into left center.
The Ravens scratched out another
two-out run in the third inning and it all started with freshman
Karissa Forzese (Methuen, Mass.) reaching on an
infield single and moving up to second on a wild pitch. Verner
followed and laced a single through the left side, which allowed
Forzese to advance to third. Eidam followed and sent an 0-2 pitch
back up through the middle of the infield for an RBI single,
scoring Forzese.
The Purple Knights got on the board
with a run in the fourth inning to pull within 2-1. Bethany Falls
led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and
eventually scored on a Franklin Pierce fielding error.
Saint Michael's, though, found out
that a potential rally would be a steep one to pull off as Eidam
singled in a pair of runs in the fourth to make it 4-1 Franklin
Pierce. She sent an 0-1 pitch into right-center field, bringing in
Wiley and Furtado on the play, who reached via a single and
fielding error, respectively.
The Purple Knights did get a run
back in the fifth with an Amanda Brigante RBI single to make it
4-2. And St. Mike's did put a pair of runners on base in the
seventh inning, but Allen struck out Greer Lemnah to close out the
game and pick up the victory.
Franklin Pierce returns to action
Monday when the Ravens open up their home portion of the 2012
schedule by playing host to Bentley in a double dip 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).