O'Herron scores twice and drives in once

RINDGE, N.H. (March 29, 2013) – Sophomore third baseman Matt O'Herron (Springfield, Mass.) went 3-for-4 and scored the eventual winning run in the bottom of the sixth, while junior right-hander Trevor Graham (Sebastian, Fla.) struck out eight while fighting through eight innings on Friday afternoon, as the Franklin Pierce University baseball team posted a 5-4 win over Massachusetts Lowell in Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division play at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field. Senior second baseman James Katsiroubas went 3-for-4 with a double in the loss for Lowell.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 14-9 (4-0 Northeast-10, 1-0 Northeast Division), while Massachusetts Lowell falls to 12-7 (0-1 Northeast-10, 0-1 Northeast Division). The two teams will wrap up their three-game season series on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for noon at Pappas Field.

The Ravens need only one win in tomorrow's twinbill to retain possession of the Keenan Cup for the second straight season. The trophy was created last season to honor the memory of the late Adam Keenan, who played for both schools before tragically passing away in June 2011, due to Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy, while practicing with his summer league team, the Seacoast Mavericks.

Lowell opened the scoring with an unearned run in the top of the second inning. After the first two batters grounded out to shortstop, sophomore left fielder Matthew Sanchez knocked what seemed like a harmless two-out single back up the middle, before the Franklin Pierce defense broke down behind Graham. Sanchez stole second, and the throw by sophomore catcher Matt Walsh (Plymouth, Mass.) sailed on the first-base side of the bag and into center field, allowing Sanchez to take third. Graham would have still had a chance to work out of the inning without any damage, but on the same play, junior center fielder Calvin Graves (Boston, Mass.) mishandled the ball backing up second, which allowed Sanchez to score.

Franklin Pierce answered immediately with three runs in the home half of the second to jump out to a 3-1 lead. Leading off the inning, senior right fielder Nick LaCroix (Grafton, Mass.) laced a double into the gap in right-center, and Walsh followed with a single through the right side of the infield to move LaCroix to third. Lowell freshman right fielder Louis Tarantino had trouble with the ball when it got to him, and LaCroix scored while Walsh trucked around to third on the error. Walsh would score two batters later on an RBI double over the head of the center fielder by O'Herron, who later moved to third when a hit batsman loaded the bases and scored on an RBI groundout by Graves.

The River Hawks responded with a pair of runs in the top of the third to knot the game at 3-3. The inning started at the top of the order, as sophomore shortstop Geoff DeGroot lined a single into center field. He stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on an RBI double which one-hopped the fence down the left-field line by Katsiroubas, who would move to third on an infield single by sophomore first baseman Jimmy Ricoy. Senior third baseman Pat Devlin was next, and chopped a ball softly down the first-base line. The ball died halfway down the line, where Graham picked it up, looked home, thought about trying to cut down Katsiroubas at the plate, and then turned to try to get the out at first. By then, however, it was far too late, leaving Devlin with an RBI single.

Lowell briefly took the lead again at 4-3, with a run in the top of the fifth. Freshman center fielder Joe Consolmagno opened the frame with a single back up the middle, went first-to-third on a single into right-center by Katsiroubas and later scored on an RBI groundout by Devlin.

Graham settled in after the Katsiroubas single in the fifth, retiring the next three batters in order to end the inning. In fact, Katsiroubas would be the penultimate batter to reach base against Graham, who cruised through the next three innings on his way to pitching eight full, allowing just a two-out walk to Tarntino in the sixth.

The Ravens would squeak out just enough runs to get Graham the win, as they plated two in the bottom of the sixth to take a 5-4 lead they would never relinquish. Sophomore left fielder John Razzino (Cranston, R.I.) and O'Herron opened the inning with back-to-back singles, up the middle and into right-center, respectively, to put runners at first and second with nobody out. After freshman second baseman Rich Patrizio (East Northport, N.Y.) worked a walk to load the bases, freshman shortstop Justin Brock (Latham, N.Y.) bounced into a fielder's choice which saw Patrizio erased at second, but scored Razzino to tie the game. It also moved O'Herron up to third, and he would score from there on a sacrifice fly to right by Graves.

The Franklin Pierce pitching staff slammed the door shut after it was given the lead, as it retired the final nine Lowell batters. The River Hawk lineup hit the ball out of the infield just three times in the final three innings, as it went quietly into the night.

Graham needed 123 pitches to get through his eight innings, but expended most of his energy early, as it took him 87 pitches to record his first 15 outs. He then threw only 36 pitches while retiring nine of the 10 batters he faced over his final three innings. In all, he scattered nine hits, allowed four runs (three earned), walked one and struck out eight. Of 16 outs recorded on balls in play, he rolled up 12 groundouts on the way to the win (4-0). Junior right-hander Joe Flynn (Plymouth, Mass.) came on for the ninth and retired the side in order to earn his third save of the season.

Junior right-hander Garrett Cole took the ball for Lowell, and was even less efficient than Graham, as he needed 108 pitches to work his way through 5.2 innings. He allowed five runs on seven hits, walked five, hit a batter and struck out four while taking the loss (1-4). Senior right-hander Tyler Toyfair kept his team in the game in the latter stages, as he retired all seven batters he faced over 2.1 innings. He struck out two, threw a wild pitch and allowed only one ball to be hit out of the infield.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce baseball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).