Franklin Pierce Set for Return to NE-10 Championships
Ravens look to increase NCAA Tournament odds with strong weekend
RINDGE, N.H. (May 5, 2004) - The Franklin Pierce baseball team, ranked No. 4 in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II Northeast Region poll, has earned its fourth-straight Northeast-10 Conference Tournament berth and will open play in the double-elimination final four on Friday afternoon.
Franklin Pierce (28-20, 23-8 NE-10), receiving votes in both the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball magazine Division II national polls, has earned the No. 2-seed in the Championships and will face sixth-seeded UMass Lowell (19-21, 17-14 NE-10) in the first game of the weekend on Friday, May 7, at 4 p.m. UMass Lowell reached the double-elimination round with a 2-1 victory over third-seeded and No. 25-ranked Bryant College in ten innings during first round action on Wednesday.
Top-seeded and No. 17 Saint Anselm College (30-18, 24-8 NE-10) will face fifth-seeded Southern Connecticut State University in Friday's second game. Southern Connecticut reached the double-elimination round with a 6-2 victory over fourth-seeded Stonehill College, in 11 innings, on Wednesday.
Friday will mark the 33rd meeting all-time between Franklin Pierce and UMass Lowell, the fourth in postseason play - including two NE-10 Tournament encounters. The River Hawks hold a 27-5 advantage in the all-time series, including a 2-1 clip in postseason play, 2-0 in NE-10 Tournament action. The Ravens have won four-straight meetings as they swept the three-game regular season series between the two clubs this spring to go with a 5-3 victory in the 2003 NCAA Northeast Regional title game here at LeLacheur Park.
This season, Franklin Pierce swept its first-ever regular season series with UML posting 5-1 and 9-3 decisions in a doubleheader in Lowell on April 17 before rounding out the series with a 12-4 triumph in Rindge, N.H., on April 18. The Ravens hit .336 as a team in the three-game weekend set this season, while the River Hawks managed just a .184 team batting average. Senior Dante Blancarte (South Berwick, Maine/Amesbury (Mass.)) paced the Ravens with a .600 (6-10) average, three runs scored, a double, home run and four RBI. Sophomore Kevin McCann (Methuen, Mass./Central Catholic) was the lone offensive bright spot for UML with a .286 (2-7) average, a run scored and three RBI.
The three Franklin Pierce starting pitchers in the series yielded just four runs, one earned, in 21.2 combined innings for a 0.42 ERA. Franklin Pierce pitching posted a combined 1.67 ERA for the series, while the UML staff posted a 6.92 team ERA.
Franklin Pierce, who reached the NE-10 title game last season before falling to UMass Lowell, 4-1, is participating in the double-elimination portion of the NE-10 Championship for just the second time in four NE-10 Tournament appearances. The Ravens enter the postseason having dropped four of their last seven, including a 4-3 loss to College of Saint Rose on Sunday, with a chance to sew up its first NE-10 regular season crown and top-seed in the tournament.
Franklin Pierce, who established a new program record for Conference victories this season, has won eight of its last ten one-run games heading into postseason play. The Ravens lead the Northeast-10 in hitting this season, with a .294 team batting average, are ranked sixth with a 3.79 team ERA, but are 11th with a .930 fielding percentage as they have been hampered by a Conference-high 124 errors.
Junior catcher Eric Cavers (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills), the leading candidate for Player of the Year honors in the Northeast-10, leads the Conference in batting (.399), slugging percentage (.653), on-base percentage (.483), runs scored (51) and hits (69). He also ranks high among NE-10 leaders with 35 RBI (10th), 15 doubles (3rd), four triples (4th), seven home runs (2nd) and 18 stolen bases (6th).
The top backstop in the league, Cavers has thrown out 37.1-percent (13-35) of the potential basestealers against him this season and picked off a Conference-high seven other baserunners. He has totaled a team-best 22 multiple-hit and ten multi-RBI games this season and is hitting .402 (47-117) with 37 runs scored, 14 doubles, three triples, six home runs, 24 RBI and 12 stolen bases in Conference play this spring. He is also slugging .726 with a .496 on-base percentage against NE-10 teams.
Sophomore second-baseman Mike Chambers (Londonderry, N.H/Londonderry) is hitting .354 (62-175) this season with 28 runs scored, 15 doubles, four homers, 35 RBI and ten steals. Freshman Kim Hart (Gorham, Maine/Gorham) is batting .317 (46-145) with 20 runs scored, ten doubles and 31 RBI, while sophomore Elliott Shea (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) boasts a .309 (55-178) average, 42 runs scored, ten doubles, three homers, 19 RBI and 22 steals.
A record six Ravens have reached double-figures in stolen bases this season to help account for their program-record and NE-10 leading 113 steals as a team. Shea ranks second in the Conference with his program-record 22 thefts, while Cavers is sixth with 18 and freshman Vinny Pennell's (Spencer, Mass./David Prouty) freshman record matching 15 is good for tenth.
A pair of juniors have led the Ravens pitching staff this season. Keith Brouillard (Westport, Mass./Somerset) is 8-1 with one save, a 2.57 ERA, 54 strikeouts and just 16 walks in 73.2 innings of work over 12 appearances (eight starts). He became the first pitcher in program history to start a season 8-0 and the eight-straight wins matched the program's record for consecutive winning decisions. Opposing batters are hitting just .217 against him this season and he has pitched a team-best five complete-games including two shutouts.
Bryan Borowski (Clarksburg, Mass./Drury) has been the hard-luck pitcher of the season for the Ravens. He is 3-5 with a 2.34 ERA, 71 strikeouts and 28 walks in 80.2 innings of work over 11 starts this spring. Opposing batters are hitting just .215 against him, but he has been supported by just 2.38 runs in his eight appearances where he has either lost or received no decision compared to 6.0 runs of support in his three wins.
Freshman Daniel Fournier (Worcester, Mass./Holy Name) has made an immediate impact for the Ravens in his first collegiate season, posting a 6-2 mark with a 3.21 ERA, 57 strikeouts and 31 walks in 53.1 innings. Junior Ryan Bowling (Cedar Springs, Mich./Cedar Springs) is 4-2 with a 3.71 ERA, 46 strikeouts and 20 walks in 53.1 innings.
UMass Lowell enters this weekend's tournament winners of six of its last nine after Wednesday's first round victory at Bryant. The River Hawks are hitting .256 as a team to go with a 4.20 team ERA and .957 fielding percentage (64 errors). UMass Lowell is looking to win its fourth-straight NE-10 Tournament title since joining the Conference, with Franklin Pierce, prior to the 2001 season.
Sophomore Craig Carpenter (Nashua, N.H./Nashua) leads UMass Lowell on offense this season with a .297 (41-138) batting average, seven doubles, a home run and 23 RBI. Junior Nate Liebenow (Hampton, N.H./Winnacunnet) is hitting .286 (46-161) with 31 runs scored, 13 doubles, three triples, two homers, 13 steals and 23 RBI. Sophomore Bob Theriault (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) is batting .280 (37-132) with 20 runs scored, six doubles, five triples, four homers and 20 RBI.
UMass Lowell is expected to start junior left-hander Brad Laurin (Dracut, Mass./Central Catholic) tomorrow. He is 3-4 this season with a 2.52 ERA, 67 strikeouts and 20 walks in 64.1 innings of work over nine starts this spring with opposing batters hitting .244 against him.
2004 Northeast-10
Conference
Baseball Championships
First Round
Wednesday, May 5 (at higher seeds)
Game 1: #6 UMass Lowell 2, #3 Bryant 1 (10
innings)
Game 2: #5 Southern Conn. State 6 at #4 Stonehill 2 (11
innings)
Double-Elimination Rounds
(LeLacheur Park, Lowell, Mass.)
Friday, May 5
Game 3: #2 Franklin Pierce (28-20, 23-8 NE-10)
at
#6 UMass Lowell (19-21, 17-14 NE-10), 4
p.m.
Game 4: #1 Saint Anselm (30-18, 24-8 NE-10)
vs. #5 Southern Conn. State (28-20, 18-14 NE-10), 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 6
Game 5: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser,
11 a.m.
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 3
p.m.
Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 7 p.m.
Sunday, May 7
Game 8: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner,
Noon
Game 9: if necessary, 3 p.m.