Third-seeded Ravens to face NYCAC Champions and No. 2-seeded Dowling on Thursday

RINDGE, N.H. (May 12, 2003) - The Franklin Pierce baseball team has earned its first ever invitation to the NCAA Division II Tournament. The announcement was made today by the NCAA Baseball Championship committee. Franklin Pierce (27-15), which claimed its first ever Northeast-10 Conference Markey Division title, received the No. 3-seed at this weekend's Northeast Regional and will face second-seeded Dowling College (29-9), which claimed its first New York Collegiate Athletic Conference (NYCAC) over the weekend, in day one action of the double-elimination regional on Thursday at 3 p.m.

Top-seeded and No. 16-ranked University of Massachusetts Lowell (30-10) is the regional host with all games played at LeLachuer Park. The River Hawks, who topped Franklin Pierce, 4-1, in yesterday's NE-10 Championship game, will face fourth-seeded University of New Haven (26-10) in Friday's second game at 7 p.m.

Franklin Pierce, which advanced to the NE-10 title game yesterday for the first time in program history, has reached the postseason in each of the last four seasons. The Ravens captured the 2002 ECAC Division II Championship a year ago and claimed the NE-10 Markey Division's top seed in last weekend's Conference Championship. Franklin Pierce enters the NCAA's winners of five of its last seven and nine of 12.

Thursday will mark just the second meeting all-time between Franklin Pierce and Dowling - both coming in postseason play. The Golden Lions eliminated the Ravens in the 2000 ECAC Division II Tournament with a 3-2 victory in Holbrook, N.Y.

Franklin Pierce will return to using aluminum bats for the first time since a 5-0 non-conference victory over Teikyo Post University on March 25. The Ravens were 7-4 with aluminum bats this spring and hit .318 as a team, posting a 2.52 team ERA and holding opposing batters to a .204 batting average in 82 innings. With the Northeast-10 Conference-mandated wood bats, the Ravens were 20-11, hit .280, posted a 2.89 ERA and held opposing batters to a .236 average in 270.2 innings.

Seniors Paul McAuliffe (Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro) and Josh Coughlin (Keene, N.H./Keene) were the Ravens top hitters with aluminum bats this season. Coughlin is hitting .417 (10-24) with nine runs scored, a double, triple and seven RBI in eight games, while McAuliffe is batting .405 (15-37) with 12 runs scored, four doubles, a triple, a home run and four RBI in 11 games.

Senior right-hander Jon White (Medford, Mass./Arlington) boasted a 0.43 ERA against aluminum bats with 18 strikeouts and three walks in 21 innings over three starts (2-1 record). Opposing batters hit just .203 against him. Junior right-hander Matt Weagle (Charlton, Mass./Shephard Hill) was 2-0 with a 1.62 ERA, 16 strikeouts and no walks over 16.2 innings, holding opposing batters to a .200 average.

Weagle, named the Northeast-10 Conference Pitcher of the Year today, leads the Ravens into the regional with the second-ranked team ERA in the Conference (fourth in Division II) at 2.81. Weagle, the No. 4-ranked Pro Prospect in Division II by Baseball America, is 7-1 this spring with a Conference-low 1.29 ERA, 82 strikeouts (2nd NE-10) and just nine walks in 76.2 innings (1st) with opposing batters hitting a Conference-low .178 against him. He opened the NE-10 Tournament for the Ravens with 11 one-hit shutout innings against Stonehill College on Friday afternoon, fanning a career-best 16 batters with just one walk as the Ravens went on to post a 1-0 victory in 12 innings. He was perfect through the first 5.1 innings and carried a no-hitter into the ninth before surrendering a leadoff single.

White, a third team All-Conference honoree, is 5-4 this spring with a 2.92 ERA, 57 strikeouts (8th NE-10) and ten walks in 71 innings (5th). Freshman Tyler Cummings (South Paris, Maine/Oxford Hills) has won three-straight decisions and is 6-4 with a 2.85 ERA, 66 strikeouts (6th NE-10) and 14 walks in 60 innings of work with opposing batters hitting just .183 against him. He is just one victory shy of Chris Shank's freshman wins record set in 2000.

Junior Dante Blancarte (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury), a first team All-Conference selection, leads the Ravens with a .346 batting average (10th NE-10), 11 doubles, a triple, three home runs and Conference-best 40 RBI.

Senior Dan Close (Leominster, Mass./Leominster), a second-team All-NE-10 pick, is hitting .331 with 31 runs scored, nine doubles, two triples, three homers and 32 RBI (7th). Over the last two weeks, Close has been swinging an especially hot bat, hitting .463 (25-54) with 12 runs scored, four doubles, two triples, two homers and 16 RBI over the last 13 games. During that time he is slugging .722 and carries a team season-high matching 14-game hitting streak into the regional.

Freshman Elliott Shea (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) has been an impact player, hitting .310 with a homer, 17 RBI and seven steals, while McAuliffe, a second team All-Conference honoree, is batting .304 for the season with 33 runs scored, eight doubles, three triples, three homers and 13 RBI.

Franklin Pierce is 4-6 all-time in postseason play after going 2-2 over the weekend at the Northeast-10 Conference championships. The Ravens have only played UMass Lowell so far this season, with the River Hawks winning all four encounters including two over the weekend at the NE-10 Tournament. Franklin Pierce and New Haven had a non-conference game in April rained out. The Chargers lead the all-time series between the two former New England Collegiate Conference schools, 19-2.

2003 NCAA DIVISION II NORTHEAST REGIONAL BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Double-Elimination
Hosted by UMass Lowell
LeLachuer Park - Lowell, Mass.

Thursday, May 15
Game 1: #3 Franklin Pierce (27-15) vs. #2 Dowling (29-9), 3 p.m.
Game 2: #4 New Haven (26-10) at UMass Lowell (30-10), 7 p.m.

Friday, May 16
Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 11 a.m.
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 3 p.m.
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 7 p.m.

Saturday, May 17
Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 11 a.m.
Game 7: if necessary, (30 minutes following conclusion of game 6)