MacDougall belts three homers, including walk off two-run shot, to defeat Ravens

BOCA RATON, Fla. (March 18, 2008) – Franklin Pierce University, ranked fourth in this week’s pingbaseball.com Division II poll, sixth in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) poll and eighth in the Collegiate Baseball magazine rankings, dropped a tough 10-8 decision to Lynn University, among teams receiving votes in this week’s Collegiate Baseball poll, in a non-conference baseball contest at McCusker Sportsplex this afternoon.

Junior Gabe MacDougall (Oak Run, Calif./Foothill) tied a Lynn record with three home runs, including a walk off two-run blast in the bottom of the ninth as the Fighting Knights rallied for the win. MacDougall, who also knotted the score at 8-8 with a two-run blast in the seventh inning, finished 3-for-5 with seven RBI. Senior Joe Arminio (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant) hit 3-for-4 with a double, three runs scored and an RBI, while junior Douglas Toro (Longueuil, Quebec) drove in a pair.

Senior Chris Snow (Boca Raton, Fla./Spanish River) earned the win (1-0), with 3.2 innings of two-hit shutout relief, striking out one. Lynn junior starter Kevin Rickert (Toms River, N.J./Toms River) allowed five earned runs on 12 hits with three strikeouts and two walks over five-plus innings of work.

Sophomore Kevin Rivers (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern) hit 2-for-5 with a double and three RBI, while grad student Jake Christman (Newton, Mass./Newton South) was 2-for-6 with two RBI and a run scored. Junior Cliff Hicks (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack) batted 3-4 with an RBI and run scored, while senior Matt Anderson (Medford, Mass./Medford) was 3-5 with a run scored. Senior Kevin Renaud (Southbridge, Mass./Southbridge) hit 2-5 with a stolen base, run scored and two RBI.

Freshman Robbie Beaudoin (Somerset, Mass./Somerset) suffered the loss in relief for the Ravens, allowing three earned runs on four hits with two strikeouts and a walk over 3.1 innings. Junior starter Alex Szymanski (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) yielded six earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts and two walks in five-plus innings.

Lynn rallied from an 8-4 deficit after five and a half innings, with MacDougall belting a game-tying two run homer in the seventh, before adding his game-winning two-run shot with one out in the ninth. The Fighting Knights also scored twice in the bottom of the sixth as Toro delivered a two-run single up the middle.

Lynn opened the scoring with a three-run homer from MacDougall with one out in the first inning. Franklin Pierce got one of those runs back in the fifth on an RBI single by Rivers. The Fighting Knights regained a three-run lead (4-1) in the home half of the fifth with an RBI double by Arminio.

Franklin Pierce appeared to gain control of the game by scoring seven times in the sixth that turned a 4-1 deficit into an 8-4 lead. Christman started the rally with a two-run single, while Renaud added a two-run single up the middle and Rivers delivered a two-run double. Hicks’ RBI single capped the inning.

Franklin Pierce (10-2, 0-0 NE-10) is back in action tomorrow when it faces Nova Southeastern University at 6 p.m. Lynn (20-8, 5-1 SSC) hosts Southern Connecticut State University tomorrow at 3 p.m.