Ravens must wait until Sunday for NCAA fate

RINDGE, N.H. (May 7, 2013) – Junior right-hander Alek Morency went the distance and threw a five-hitter without allowing an earned run on Tuesday night, as fourth-seeded Merrimack upended the top seed and No. 26 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University baseball team in a Northeast Division first round game in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 32-16, while Merrimack improves to 27-17. Merrimack will advance to take on the third seed in the Southwest Division, Le Moyne, on Thursday on the first day of double-elimination play, hosted by New Haven. Franklin Pierce must wait until Sunday to find out if it earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship East Regional. The selection show is scheduled for 10 p.m. on Sunday, May 12, and will be webcast at ncaa.com.

Junior right-hander Trevor Graham (Sebastian, Fla.), who had been named Northeast-10 Pitcher of the Year earlier Tuesday, took the ball for the Ravens, but did not have his best stuff. He departed after six innings -- after seven straight starts of seven or more innings -- but needed 93 pitches to get 18 outs. Of the six hits he allowed, three went for extra bases, and he was charged for four runs (three earned). The extra-base hits were an anomaly when compared to the rest of Graham's season; of his 13 starts, he has allowed more than one extra-base hit in only three of them. Along the way on Tuesday, he walked two, hit two batters and struck out five while taking the loss (8-2). It marked only the third time this season he combined to walk or hit more than two batters.

On the other side of the ledger, Morency -- an All-Northeast-10 Second Team selection himself -- grinded his way through the Franklin Pierce lineup, facing only 33 batters, but throwing 130 pitches in the complete-game win (6-3). He allowed one unearned run on five hits, walked two, hit two batters and struck out six.

Franklin Pierce, which left 14 runners in scoring position while getting swept in a doubleheader at Merrimack on April 28, had two early chances to take control of the game, but capitalized on neither of them. In the bottom of the first, after a hit batter and a walk left runners at first and second with one out, senior right fielder Nick LaCroix (Grafton, Mass.) grounded into a double play on the second pitch of his at-bat to end the inning. In the second, sophomore catcher Matt Walsh (Plymouth, Mass.) reached on catcher's interference and junior designated hitter Marty Dunlap (Dorchester, Mass.) followed with a line-drive single up the middle to put runners at first and second with nobody out. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners up to second and third, but sophomore third baseman Matt O'Herron (Springfield, Mass.) and freshman second baseman Justin Brock (Latham, N.Y.) struck out consecutively to end the threat.

It proved to be one of the final threats of the ballgame for Franklin Pierce, which advanced only one runner beyond second base the remainder of the way. The lone runner was Walsh, who ultimately scored the one unearned run in the fourth. Otherwise, from the end of the second inning forward, Morency scattered four hits, a walk and a hit batter. Behind him, the Merrimack defense turned four double plays, including one in each of the final three innings.

Merrimack opened the scoring with an unearned run in the top of the second inning. With two outs and nobody on, freshman shortstop Mike Forgione chopped a ball to shortstop which senior shortstop Dan Kemp (Sturbridge, Mass.) waited back and fielded on a short hop instead of coming in to take the high chop. What would have been a close play at first became a moot point, as the low throw could not be scooped out of the dirt by the first baseman. After Forgione stole second, senior second baseman Alan Pastyrnak, Jr. followed with a similar play, but this time on the right side of the infield. Brock charged the ball and fielded cleanly, but threw against his body on the run. The throw appeared on target for a bang-bang play at first, but junior first baseman Zach Mathieu (Derry, N.H.) whiffed on the catch, allowing Forgione to score from second.

The Warriors added a run in the top of the third to double the lead to 2-0. Freshman catcher Pat Florence led off and was hit by a pitch. He came all the way around to score from first when freshman first baseman Frank Crinella drove an 0-2 pitch the other way into the gap in right-center for an RBI triple.

The lead went to 3-0 when junior third baseman Eddie Newton led off the top of the fourth and got a first-pitch fastball right down the middle. He deposited it beyond the fence in left field for his first career home run.

Franklin Pierce scratched together an unearned run in the home half of the fourth to cut the gap to 3-1. LaCroix led off and hit a ball hard on the ground towards the hole in the left side. Newton dove and flagged the ball down, but couldn't complete the play to first as LaCroix reached with an infield single. Walsh followed and hit a sharp groundball right at the shortstop. Merrimack forced LaCroix out at second, but the relay throw by Pastyrnak sailed out of play over the first baseman's head, allowing Walsh to advance to second. Walsh took third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI groundout by Dunlap

Merrimack scored for the fourth consecutive inning with a run in the top of the fifth to push the lead to 4-1, which would wind up standing as the final score. Florence opened the inning again and this time drove a 1-1 pitch the other way for a double into the gap in left-center. He moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by senior left fielder Casey Cotter, who reached at first as Graham couldn't field the ball cleanly. Florence would score from third on a sacrifice fly to center by Crinella which reached the warning track in right-center.

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).