NCAA Championship National Finals Championship Central

The Franklin Pierce University baseball team captured the sixth NCAA Regional title in program history (2013, 2010, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2003) on Sunday, May 19, with a 5-1 win over Wilmington (Del.) in the title game of the NCAA Championship East Regional at Penmen Field in Manchester, N.H. (game story). The regional championship advanced the Ravens to the NCAA Championship National Finals, hosted by Mount Olive and the Town of Cary at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.

Franklin Pierce opens its sixth National Finals on Saturday, May 25, against Shippensburg, champion of the Atlantic Region, at 1 p.m. The double-elimination tournament spans eight days, with the national title game scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 1. The Ravens are three-time national semifinalists (2010, 2006, 2003) and are making their second trip to Cary (2010).

Check back regularly, as we will be adding content throughout the lead-up to the National Finals, and will then have full coverage of the team's trip to the Tar Heel State.

Monday, May 27: Ravens Resilient, But Fall to Minnesota State

The defense and pitching were certainly not what the team was looking for on Monday evening in a winner's bracket game against Minnesota State, Mankato (game story). The bright side was that the bats were lively, especially later on, even against Daktronics National Pitcher of the Year Harvey Martin. We didn't come away from Monday with a ton of footage, but we do have three clips from the Ravens' seventh-inning rally. First, Calvin Graves brings home the first of four runs in the inning with an RBI single to right to score Matt O'Herron:

Next up was Dan Kemp, who laced a single to center to drive home Justin Brock:

Finally, Zach Mathieu puts a charge into a ball and deposits it in the left-center field gap to score both Gravens and Kemp:

Saturday, May 25: Ravens Down Shippensburg in National Finals Opener

The Ravens played in the very first game of the National Finals on Saturday, as Trevor Graham and Justin Brock did the heavy lifting in a 1-0 win over Atlantic Region champion Shippensburg. You can read all about in our game story (here), but we've got some video footage to share.

We'll lead with the postgame reaction, as Graham, Brock and Head Coach Jayson King addressed the media after the game:

Now, for the game highlights. First up, here's the final out of the game, as Joe Flynn gets Mike Marcinko to ground out to Zach Mathieu at first to end things:

Just over two hours earlier, the Ravens huddled up and then took the field prior to the top of the first inning:

Brock's eighth-inning single would have had much less meaning if Shippensburg had plated three or four runs after loading the bases with nobody out in the top of the fifth. After filling the bases, Graham set about making sure they stayed full until the inning ended. First up, he got Marcinko to hit a line drive straight at Brock at second:

Next, Graham froze Michael Douglas on this 1-2 fastball:

Lastly, Graham got a foul-out to Mathieu back behind first base from Cal Hogan, a former Raven who is now Shippensburg's third baseman, to escape the situation unscathed. Graham was fired up and pumped his fists several times on the way back to the third-base dugout.

Friday, May 24: Practice on Coleman Field

Friday is the final day of preparation before the NCAA Championship National Finals, and as of the time of this writing, the Ravens have about 23 hours remaining until first pitch against Shippensburg. Friday was the NCAA's official pre-championship practice day, as each team was allowed 45 minutes on Coleman Field, the main stadium field at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.

When the complex first hosted the National Finals in 2009, they began a tradition: on practice day, each of the eight participating teams raises a team flag at the entrance to the facility. The flags are removed and taken home by the teams as they are eliminated, until only two remain on the day of the national title game. Above, the team poses with its 2013 flag, before the seniors and captains ran it up the pole. The team's flag from the 2010 trip to Cary currently resides in Rindge, on a flagpole in right-center field at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field.

After the flag ceremony, the team had the very first practice of the day on Coleman Field. The team took a 15-minute infield/outfield session, followed by 30 minutes of batting practice. After, the Ravens got in another 45 minutes of hitting on Field 3, where they practiced yesterday.

Tonight, the team will attend the championship banquet, to be held at PNC Arena, home of the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes. We'll be back later with content from the evening.

Thursday, May 23: Afternoon Practice at USA Baseball Complex

The Ravens arrived in Cary on Thursday afternoon, and one of the team's first activities in the Tar-Heel state was practice on Field 3 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex. The guys are a bit worn out from traveling, so we gave them the day off from interviews, but we shot some photos of practice at the facility. We've shrunk them down here, but you can view them at higher resolution via the album on our Facebook page (here).

The team has the remainder of Thursday off from baseball activities, though a portion of the team plans to head over to Durham Bulls Athletic Park tonight and take in some of the Florida State vs. Virginia Tech game at the ACC Championship.

Wednesday, May 22: Final On-Campus Practice

The team will fly out of Manchester, N.H. bright and early on Thursday morning, so Wednesday was the final on-campus practice for the Ravens in advance of the National Finals. The next time Franklin Pierce will see the field is Thursday evening at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.

On the team's final day in New Hampshire, we caught up with Kevin McGowan at practice and talked to him about his performance over the weekend, when he threw two scoreless innings to start the East Regional title game only one day after throwing a complete game:

Tuesday, May 21: Back to Work

The team had Monday off to rest up and enjoy the East Regional title, but Tuesday it was time to get back to work as the team gets set to pursue the program's first national championship. The Ravens are scheduled to practice at home Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, before departing for Cary bright and early Thursday morning. Once in North Carolina, the team plans to practice both Thursday and Friday afternoon, before attending the National Finals banquet on Friday evening at PNC Arena, home of the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes. As of this update, first pitch against Shippensburg is just under 94 hours away.

We'll be with the team until the trip comes to an end, and Tuesday we were on-site at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field in Rindge for the first of two on-campus practices this week. While we were there, we snagged a trio of Ravens to get their thoughts both on this past weekend and the upcoming trip. First, we talked with Ryan Leach, who threw six innings of three-hit ball to earn the win in the regional title game. We asked him both about his outing, and about what the win meant to him, particularly after taking the loss in the final game of the 2012 season:

Next, we pulled aside the team's closer, Joe Flynn, who recorded the final three outs of Sunday's regional title game. He talked about how him and catcher Matt Walsh -- who were a high school battery before coming to Franklin Pierce -- dealt with ending up at the bottom of the celebratory dogpile after the final out. In addition, we asked Flynn, who was a member of the 2010 East Regional title team but did not pitch in the National Finals, what it meant to him to be going back in a situation where he's nearly certain to see the mound.

Lastly, we talked with second baseman Justin Brock, who had an RBI triple in the sixth inning of the title game on Sunday. We asked him to take us inside that at-bat, which at the time brought home an important insurance run. We also talked with him about how he feels contributing as a freshman, especially with a senior double-play partner who was down to his last chance to get back to Cary.