Ravens host unbeaten Dominican Sunday at 9:30 a.m.

RINDGE, N.H. (May 20, 2006) - Top-seeded and 11^th-ranked Franklin Pierce stayed alive and eliminated third-seeded UMass Lowell with a 10-6 victory in game eight of the 2006 NCAA Division II Northeast Regional at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field this afternoon.

Franklin Pierce (42-11) will face unbeaten and fifth-seeded Dominican College (42-16) tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. The Chargers improved to 2-0 in the regional earlier in the day with an 8-7 victory over UMass Lowell (37-14) this morning. Fourth-seeded Southern Connecticut State University (35-18) avoided elimination and knocked out sixth-seeded Dowling College (31-15) in Saturday's second game. Sunday's game schedule is below.

Senior right-hander Tyler Cummings (South Paris, Maine/Oxford Hills), senior All-American Bryan Duplissie (East Swanzey, N.H./Monadnock Regional) and sophomore Matt Anderson (Medford, Mass./Medford) led Franklin Pierce this afternoon.            

Cummings collected his ninth win of the year (9-1), allowing four runs, three earned, on nine hits and three strikeouts with two walks in eight innings of work to collect his 26^th career victory. Senior Mike Farrell (Russell, Mass./Gateway Regional) collected his fourth save of the season as he retired the only batter he faced after entering the game with runners on first and second after UMass Lowell had already scored twice in the inning.

Anderson was 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs, three RBI and two runs scored. The homers were the first of his collegiate career and came on back-to-back at bats in the fourth and fifth innings. His first homer came on his 296^th career at bat.

Duplissie was 4-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored. The two RBI give him a Northeast-10 Conference-best 58 for the season, surpassing the single-season program record of 57 set by Henry Wilson in 1996.

Junior All-American Garrett Olson (Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) also played a big role in the Ravens 15-hit attack, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored, while freshman Scott Savastano (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) was 2-4 with two RBI. Senior Mike Chambers (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) chipped in his seventh homer of the season and scored three runs.

Junior Patrick Wilson (Dracut, Mass./Bishop Guertin) paced UMass Lowell as he hit 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored and three RBI. Sophomore Tim Manton (Swansea, Mass./Joseph Case) was 2-4 with a double, stolen base and two runs scored, while junior Steve Paddock (Milford, Mass./Milford) was 2-4 with a double and RBI. Senior Bob Theriault (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) contributed his third homer of the year in his final collegiate game.  

Junior Kevin Graham (Billerica, Mass./Billerica) took the loss, yielding five earned runs on nine hits with two strikeouts and no walks over four-plus innings.

For the first time in the regional tournament, Franklin Pierce was able to gain an early lead with a run in the first. Chambers was hit by a pitch, and reached third on an Olson single, before scoring on a single from Duplissie.

UMass Lowell knotted the score thanks to the Ravens fifth outfield error of the tournament in the third. The Ravens quickly regained the lead in the third as Olson reached on an infield single and later scored on Savastano's single to center.

Anderson led off the fourth with his first home run in the fourth, but Wilson's two-run shot knotted the score again in the top of the fifth (3-3). The homer was the first off Cummings since Franklin Pierce's season-opening loss at New Jersey Institute of Technology on March 5, 2004 - ending a streak of 161.2 innings pitched without yielding a home run.

The Ravens scored four in the fifth, capped by a two-run Anderson blast to deep leftfield. Franklin Pierce gained some insurance with two more in the sixth on s olo homers from Chambers and Duplissie.

UML refused to go out quietly as Theriault smacked a solo homer in the eighth, which was answered by an RBI single from Savastano in the home half, but forced the Ravens into a save situation with two in the ninth. One run scored on a sacrifice fly on a foul ball from Wilson, before Paddock delivered an RBI double with two out.  

2006 NCAA Division II
Northeast Regional Championship
Dr. Pappas Field, Rindge, N.H.
Remaining Schedule (Regional Record in parenthesis)

Sunday, May 21:
G9: #5 Dominican (2-0) at #1 Franklin Pierce (2-1), 9:30 a.m.
G10: #5 Dominican vs. # 4 Southern Connecticut (2-1), 1 p.m.
G11: if necessary, 4:30 p.m.

Scenarios:
Dominican wins the regional with wins in games 9 & 10.

If Franklin Pierce wins G9 it moves to regional final to face either Southern Connecticut or Dominican.

If Franklin Pierce wins G9 and Southern Connecticut wins G10, they will play for the regional title Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

If Dominican wins and loses any combination of games 9 & 10, Game 11 will be play Monday at a time to be determined by the NCAA Committee.

Boxscore & Play-by-Play