2005 NE-10 BASEBALL #27 Franklin Pierce Wins First NE-10 Championship
Second-seeded Ravens top third-seeded Stonehill, 7-4, to claim title Fenton named Tournament MVP after hitting.500 with three RBI on the weekend
LOWELL, Mass. (May 15, 2005) - Second-seeded Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 27 in this week's Collegiate Baseball magazine Division II poll, won its first Northeast-10 Conference Championship with a 7-4 victory over third-seeded Stonehill College at LeLacheur Park this afternoon.
Franklin Pierce (30-12, 21-9 NE-10), which reaches the 30-win plateau for the fourth-straight season, awaits official word from the NCAA Division II selection committee later tonight regarding its seeding as the Ravens are a virtual lock for their second NCAA Tournament berth in program history. There is a good chance that the Ravens could leapfrog No. 24 Southern Connecticut State University, who fell out of the NE-10 Championships in two-straight games, for the top spot in the region and host the Northeast Regional later this week at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field. Stonehill (27-20, 17-13 NE-10) awaits word regarding an NCAA Tournament berth as well.
Junior captain Randy Fenton (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) was named the Northeast-10 Tournament's Most Valuable Player as he hit an even .500 (6-for-12) with two runs scored and a team-best three RBI over Franklin Pierce's three wins. He was 3-for-4 and delivered a clutch two-run single with two out in the eighth inning of yesterday's 4-3 comeback win over UMass Lowell. Today, Fenton was 2-4 with an RBI and run scored, extending his current hitting streak to eight games and is now hitting a team-leading .519 (14-27) with two doubles, five RBI and eight runs scored in the month of May.
Junior Shawn Hayes (Charlton, Mass./Holy Name) was 3-4 for the Ravens today with a pair of doubles, a stolen base and RBI. Freshman Matt Anderson (Medford, Mass./Medford) was 3-4 with a double and RBI, while sophomore Vinny Pennell (Spencer, Mass./David Prouty) finished 2-5 with a double and two runs scored. Sophomore Garrett Olson (Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) hit 2-5 with an RBI and two runs scored, while junior Mike Chambers (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) registered a pair of RBI.
Junior Tyler Cummings (South Paris, Maine/Oxford Hills) collected his third win of the season (6-3) allowing four earned runs on ten hits with three strikeouts and three walks over six innings of work.
Junior Mike Farrell (Russell, Mass./Gateway Regional) and sophomore Eric Grabowski (Worcester, Mass./David Prouty) combined for three innings of no-hit shutout relief, as Franklin Pierce's bullpen did not surrender a run in 7.2 innings of work over the three games this weekend. Grabowski pitched a scoreless ninth, striking out one, to pick up his second save of the season (both this weekend against Stonehill).
Sophomore Matt Vaughn (Bow, N.H./Bow) led Stonehill's offense by going 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored. Junior Sean Lawrence (New Rochelle, N.Y./Fordham Prep) was 2-4 with an RBI, while senior Tim Flynn (Clifton Park, N.Y./Albany Academy) hit 2-5. Senior Craig Audette (Raynham, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham) was 1-4 with an RBI and run scored.
Junior right-hander Billy Sittig (West Roxbury, Mass./Central Catholic), who was tabbed the Northeast-10's Pitcher of the Year after the game, suffered just his second loss of the season (9-2). Pitching on three days rest, he was hit for seven earned runs on 13 hits and three walks with four strikeouts over seven innings of work.
Franklin Pierce took the early lead with single runs in the first and second. Olson opened the bottom of the first with a bloop single down the right field line and later scored on a single to right center by Hayes. It marked the 22nd time this season the Ravens have scored in the first inning (18-4 record) as they struck in the first in each of their three Tournament games this weekend. Pennell led off the second with a double down the leftfield line and later scored on an Anderson single to center.
Stonehill scored four runs in the top of the fourth despite just two of its seven hits in the frame making it out of the infield. Vaughn delivered a two-out RBI infield single to start things off, reaching second on a Hayes throwing error. Audette followed with a chop infield hit that scored Vaughn, but an Olson throwing error allowed sophomore Adam Pardo (Hanover, Mass./Hanover) to score as well and put Audette in scoring position. Lawrence delivered a single to left to score Audette with the Chieftains fourth run.
Franklin Pierce answered right back with four runs of its own in the home half of the frame. Olson drew a walk and junior Elliott Shea (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) was hit by a pitch with one out and the bases load to knot the score. Chambers followed with a two-run single to left that gave the Ravens the lead for good.
Franklin Pierce added an insurance run in the seventh as Fenton delivered a one-out RBI single to right that scored Pennell, who led off the inning with a single.