2005 NE-10 BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS #2 Franklin Pierce Downs #3 Stonehill, 7-3
Ravens advance to winner's bracket semifinal, will face fourth-seeded UMass Lowell tomorrow at 2 p.m.
LOWELL, Mass. (May 13, 2005) - Second-seeded Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 27 in this week's Collegiate Baseball magazine Division II poll, posted a 7-3 victory over third-seeded Stonehill College in game three of the 2005 Northeast-10 Conference Baseball Championship, presented by UBS and hosted by the University of Massachusetts Lowell, at LeLacheur Park this afternoon.
Franklin Pierce (28-12, 21-9 NE-10) advances to tomorrow's winner's bracket semifinal where it will face fourth-seeded UMass Lowell (27-16, 17-13 NE-10) approximately 30 minutes upon the conclusion of tomorrow's first game. The River Hawks upset top-seeded and No. 24-ranked Southern Connecticut State University (28-11, 25-5 NE-10) 1-0 in ten innings in today's second game. Stonehill (25-19, 17-13 NE-10) and Southern Connecticut will play an elimination game at 11 a.m.
The bottom half of the Franklin Pierce lineup did most of the damage this afternoon as the Ravens banged out 13 hits, reaching double-figures for the third-straight game and 22nd time overall. The number five through nine batters were a combined 9-for-13.
Junior Bryan Duplissie (East Swanzey, N.H./Monadnock Regional) led the Franklin Pierce offense, as he was 3-for-3 with a walk and two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI. Sophomore Kim Hart (Gorham, Maine/Gorham) hit 2-3 with a double and two RBI, while classmate Vinny Pennell (Spencer, Mass./David Prouty) was 1-3 with two RBI. Freshman Matt Anderson (Medford, Mass./Medford) finished 2-4 with an RBI.
Senior Bryan Borowski (Clarksburg, Mass./Drury) improved to 7-1 on the year, yielding three earned runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts over seven innings of work. Sophomore Eric Grabowski (Worcester, Mass./David Prouty) picked up his first save of the season as he came on with the bases loaded in the eighth and retired all five batters he faced with two strikeouts.
Junior T.J. Piscatelli (Norfolk, Mass./Xavarian) and sophomore Adam Pardo (Hanover, Mass./Hanover) were both 2-for-3 with a double and run scored for Stonehill. Senior Craig Audette (Raynham, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham) finished 1-2 with a pair of walks and two RBI.
Senior Billy McLane (Plymouth, N.H./Plymouth) suffered the loss (6-5), surrendering five runs, four earned, on seven hits with two strikeouts and a walk in three innings.
Franklin Pierce struck first with two runs in the first, scoring in the first inning for the 20th time this season (16-4 record). Junior Elliott Shea (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) tripled with one out and scored on a Duplissie single up the middle. Pennell singled to left with two out, scoring junior Mike Chambers (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry), who had walked.
Stonehill struck for three in the third to take a 3-2 lead. The Chieftains loaded the bases with none out and Audette delivered a two-run single to right before the final run scored on a double play.
The Ravens answered right back with three in the home half. Junior Shawn Hayes (Charlton, Mass./Holy Name) singled and scored on a sacrifice fly from Pennell that was dropped by the leftfielder. Duplissie, who had roped his first double of the afternoon down the leftfield line, advanced to third and scored on consecutive McLane wild pitches. Hart drove in Pennell with a sac fly to left.
Franklin Pierce broke the game open with two in the fifth. Duplissie led the frame off with a double off the base of the wall in right center and scored on a Hart double to right center. Anderson drove home Hart with a single to right center.
Stonehill threatened in the eighth, loading the bases with one out off Franklin Pierce reliever Mike Farrell (Russell, Mass./Gateway Regional), but Grabowski entered and got out of the jam by getting a fly ball to shallow center and a ground out. He retired the side in order in the ninth, fanning the last two batters of the game.