2007 NE-10 BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS #9/14 Franklin Pierce Rallies to Capture Championship
Top-seeded Ravens defeat third-seeded Bryant twice to claim second NE-10 Tournament title in three years
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LOWELL, Mass. (May 13, 2007) - Top-seeded Franklin Pierce, ranked ninth in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II poll and 14th in the Collegiate Baseball magazine rankings, defeated third-seeded Bryant University twice to capture its second Northeast-10 Conference Baseball Tournament title in three years at LeLacheur Park this afternoon. The Ravens forced the "if necessary game" with a 4-2 victory in game one, before capturing the title with a 4-3 victory over the Bulldogs to complete the sweep.
Franklin Pierce (45-9, 26-4 NE-10) earns the Northeast-10 Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament and is expected to be named host of the Northeast Regional for the third-straight year when bids are announced on Monday. Bryant (32-22, 21-9 NE-10) awaits word on one of three at-large bids to the six team regional set get underway on Thursday.
Junior leftfielder Kevin Renaud (Southbridge, Mass./Southbridge) was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player as he hit a combined .409 (9-for-22) over Franklin Pierce's five games at the tournament with four runs scored, a double, two home runs and four RBI.
Franklin Pierce 4, Bryant 2
Sophomore Scott Savastano (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) and freshman Kevin Rivers (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern) collected RBI singles in the bottom of the eighth to put Franklin Pierce in front for good and force a deciding game nine for the tournament.
Savastano finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and run scored, while Kevin Renaud hit 2-4. Rivers hit 1-3 with an RBI and run scored, while junior Tyler Bishop (Milford, N.H./Milford) notched a pinch-hit RBI single for the Ravens.
Senior reliever Clay Jenkins (Easton, N.H./Profile) posted his sixth win of the season on the mound (6-1) with two innings of one-hit shutout relief of freshman starter Kyle Vazquez (Berlin, Conn./Berlin), striking out two. Vazquez yielded two earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts and three walks over seven-plus innings of work.
Junior Mark Dondero (Medfield, Mass./Xaverian) led Bryant as he hit 3-for-4 with a double and RBI. Sophomore David Muscatello (Hopkinton, Mass./UConn) was 1-4 with an RBI.
Freshman Eric Polvani (Wallingford, Conn./Sheehan) suffered the loss (1-4) for the Bulldogs, surrendering an earned run on a hit and walk over a third of an inning. Freshman starter Brent Almeida (Fairhaven, Mass./Fairhaven) allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits and a walk with one strikeout in 6.1 innings.
The game was scoreless until the seventh as the two freshman starters posted zeroes until Franklin Pierce put two across the plate. Bishop drove in Rivers (hit-by-pitch) with a two-out single to right with the bases loaded and senior Kim Hart (Gorham, Maine/Gorham) came in to score on an error by the Bryant right fielder.
Bryant answered right away with two in the top of the eighth to knot the score, taking advantage of two Franklin Pierce errors. Dondero drove in freshman Jeff Vigurs (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor), who reached with a leadoff single, with a single through the left side with none out. The tying run scored one batter later when Muscatello reached on an error.
Senior Vinny Pennell (Spencer, Mass./David Prouty) drew a leadoff walk for Franklin Pierce in the home half of the eighth, was sacrificed to second and scored on Savastano's two-out single to center. Savastano later scored on Rivers single to right.
Franklin Pierce 4, Bryant 3
Junior Keith Renaud (Southbridge, Mass./Southbridge) scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning and Franklin Pierce held on the rest of the way to capture its second NE-10 Tournament title in program history with a 4-3 victory in the decisive game two.
Kevin Renaud hit 3-for-4 with a run scored, while Scott Savastano finished 2-4 with a stolen base and run scored. Kevin Rivers battered 1-2 with a home run, stolen base, run scored and RBI, while Keith Renaud was 1-4 with a run scored.
Sophomore lefthander Tom Cote (Swanzey, N.H./Monadnock Regional) collected his team-leading seventh win (7-1) of the season, allowing three runs, two earned, on three hits with four walks and a strikeout over eight innings. Tyler Bishop notched his program-record ninth save of the season with a perfect ninth.
Jeff Vigurs and senior Mike Rocco (Tewksbury, Mass./Tewksbury) were both 1-for-4 for Bryant with an RBI each, while Vigurs also notched a double.
Junior Eric Loh (Old Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) suffered the loss (7-3) for the Bulldogs, allowing four runs, two earned, on 12 hits with two strikeouts and no walks.
Bryant opened the scoring in game two with a single run in the top of the first as Rocco's two-out infield single scored junior Jason Alexander (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury). Franklin Pierce answered in the second as Rivers led off with his fifth home run of the season to right.
The Bulldogs regained the lead with a run in the third thanks to a pair of Raven errors. Franklin Pierce scored two in the home half of the frame to take its first lead of the contest. Kevin Renaud and Savastano led off the inning with singles and later scored when senior Jake Christman (Newton, Mass./Newton South) reached on an error at first base with two out.
Bryant knotted the score at 3-3 in the sixth as Vigurs doubled in freshman Nick Campbell (Raynham, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham) with two outs. Franklin Pierce went ahead for good as Keith Renaud singled up the middle with one out in the seventh and later scored on wild pitch.