Olson, Pennell pace Ravens to opening victory

RINDGE, N.H. (May 14, 2004) - Top-seeded Franklin Pierce eliminated second-seeded New Jersey Institute of Technology with a 10-6 victory in game two of the 2004 ECAC Division II Baseball Championship at Crystal Field this afternoon.

Franklin Pierce (30-22), which reached the 30-win plateau for the third-straight season, will now face third-seeded Wilmington (Del.) College (21-24) in a best-of-three ECAC Championship series beginning later today. NJIT (23-24) sees its season come to a close after it was defeated by Wilmington, 12-0, in today's first game.

Freshman third baseman Garrett Olson (Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) led the way for Franklin Pierce as he was a perfect 5-for-5

at the plate with two runs scored, an RBI and stolen base. Classmate Vinny Pennell (Spencer, Mass./David Prouty) was 3-5 with two runs scored, a home run and three RBI. Senior Dante Blancarte (South Berwick, Maine/Amesbury (Mass.)) hit 2-5 with two runs scored, a homer and two RBI, while sophomore Randy Fenton (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) finished 2-4 with an RBI.

Junior right-hander Ryan Bowling (Cedar Springs, Mich./Cedar Springs) picked up the win with 4.2 innings of no-hit shutout relief, fanning three and walking two.

Freshman Dan Morogiello (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Hunterdon Central) led NJIT's offense as he hit 3-4 with an RBI. Junior Philip Resciniti (East Hanover, N.J./Hanover Park) was 2-4 with two runs scored, a home run and RBI, while sophomore Justin Racz (Parsippany, N.J./Parsippany) finished 2-5 with a double and stolen base.            

Junior Dennis Keefe (Linden, N.J./Linden) suffered the loss (4-5) as he yielded six earned runs on seven hits with a walk and three strikeouts in 3.2 innings before leaving the game with an injury.

Franklin Pierce jumped ahead with a six-run third as junior Eric Cavers (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills) scored on an error, Blancarte belted a two-run homer and Pennell followed with his first career home run, a three-run shot, to right-center.

After NJIT answered with a pair in the top of the fourth, the Ravens added another run in the home half, before the Highlanders closed to within a run with four in the fifth. Sophomore Chris Legiadre (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan) opened things with an RBI single to right, followed by a pinch-hit RBI single from senior Ryan Held (Wayne, N.J./Don Bosco). Morogiello added an RBI single through the left side and the Highlanders plated another run on a wild pitch to cap the inning.

Franklin Pierce put the game away with a three-run seventh. Fenton singled through the right side to score a run and sophomore Elliott Shea (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) added a two-run single down the leftfield line, which was enough of a lead for Bowling to hold.

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