Farrell fires shutout, Terni sparks offense and named Regional's Most Outstanding Player as Owls collect first regional title

RINDGE, N.H. (May 21, 2005) - Second-seeded Southern Connecticut State University, ranked No. 29 in Collegiate Baseball magazine's Division II poll, won its first regional title in program history as it rode an unearned run to a 1-0 victory over top-seeded and No. 27-ranked Franklin Pierce at the 2005 NCAA Division II Northeast Regional at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field this afternoon.

Southern Connecticut (31-12) will make its first trip to the Division II College World Series at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Ala. The Owls will face the winner of the South Atlantic Regional on Sunday, May 29, at 1 or 6:30 p.m. (CST). No. 11 Kennesaw State University, needing just one win today to advance to the CWS, fell to No. 4 University of North Florida 8-3 in game six of their regional, with game seven scheduled to start at 4:35 p.m.

"I'm so proud of these guys," said fourth-year head coach Tim Shea. "We started out 0-3 with three lopsided defeats to a very good Armstrong Atlantic team in February, but I told the team it isn't about how you start a season, but it's how you finish. I'm happy for the players that we get to advance, especially the seniors."

Southern Connecticut senior Jeremy Terni (Uncasville, Conn./Montville) was named the Northeast Regional's Most Outstanding Player as he finished the regional with a .692 (9-for-13) batting average with a home run, three runs scored and five RBI. He was nearly single-handedly responsible for the Owls lone run of the contest.

With one out in the seventh, Terni chopped a pitch from Franklin Pierce junior right-hander Tyler Cummings (South Paris, Maine/Oxford Hills) up the third base line that looked like it may dribble foul, but freshman catcher Matt Anderson (Medford, Mass./Medford) played the ball on a hop and his throw to first sailed down the right field line. Terni scampered to second on the error and took advantage of a slow Ravens throw back into the infield to reach third. Southern then executed a suicide squeeze as senior Bob Pentino (Hamden, Conn./Hamden) laid down the sacrifice bunt.

"I was just trying to first and get a man on base," said Terni of the play. "I'm always aggressive on the bases and when I saw the player put his head down I just went. I was surprised they didn't get the ball in, but some time the team will let down a little when something goes wrong."

Junior Jeff Farrell (Naugatuck, Conn./Naugatuck) did the rest, scattering nine hits and two walks to go with nine strikeouts in collecting his third shutout of the season to improve to 7-1 on the season.

"It's just unbelievable what (Farrell) was able to do today against a great hitting club like Franklin Pierce," said Shea. "I told the team this morning that they were going to score runs, that we needed to be able put together a good attack ourselves. To hold them to 1-0 is incredible."

Farrell escaped a pair of bases loaded jams in the game, stranding 11 Franklin Pierce base runners on the afternoon. The Ravens loaded the bases with two out in the fifth, but junior Mike Chambers' (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) fly ball caught up in the wind and was caught just shy of the fence left.

"I was just trying to hit my spots and make good pitches," said Farrell. "They hit the ball hard a few times off me, but fortunately they were right at people. My defense did a great job today."

After Southern forged ahead in the top of the seventh, Franklin Pierce loaded the bases again with one out. Farrell got Elliott Shea (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) to hit a ground ball to third to force the lead runner and home, before Chambers popped to second to end the frame.

The Ravens threatened in the ninth as Anderson led off with a single. He was lifted for a pinch runner, but Randy Fenton (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) forced him out with a bunt attempt back to Farrell. Sophomore Garrett Olson (Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) put a charge into a Farrell pitch that was hauled in steps in front of the 390-foot marker in center, and then Farrell got Shea to fly out to end the game and send the Owls to Montgomery.

Terni was 2-for-4 for Southern, while senior Mel Davis (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern) also finished 2-4.

Cummings was the hard-luck loser for Franklin Pierce (6-4) as he yielded just the one unearned run while scattering six hits with three strikeouts and no walks in his team-leading third complete game of the season.

"This is why we play," said Cummings of the pitcher's duel with Farrell. "It was fun to pitch in this game. We knew it was going to come down to a play or two here or there and they just made them today. They deserved it."

Anderson finished 3-for-4 for the Ravens, while Fenton was 2-4 with a pair of stolen bases. Olson hit 1-3.

"Southern did a great job this weekend and are deserving of the win," said Franklin Pierce head coach Jayson King. "I'm just so proud of my team, but feel bad for the guys who aren't going to be coming back. Sometimes the balls aren't going to drop like they did yesterday, but that's baseball. I can live with it because we came out and played hard and left it all on the field."

Joining Terni and Farrell on the All-Tournament team from Southern were sophomore first baseman Nick Czekaj (Branford, Conn./Branford), senior shortstop Tyler Call (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) and junior pitcher Matt Hennessey (Wallingford, Conn./Lyman Hall).

Earning All-Tournament team honors from Franklin Pierce were Chambers, Olson and Shea. UMass Lowell senior Miles Page (Dracut, Mass./Central Catholic) and freshman Tim Manton (Swansea, Mass./Joseph Case) and Adelphi junior Thomas Cali (Shirley, N.Y./William Floyd) were also named.

"We're going to have a good team next year so hopefully the guys returning can remember this feeling and build on it for next season," said King. "Just like it was our turn two years ago, it was Southern's turn today."

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