Warriors rattle 13 hits off seven Raven pitchers for fourth win in five games

RINDGE, N.H. (April 9, 2008) – Merrimack College posted a 7-3 victory over Franklin Pierce University, ranked fourth in this week’s pingbaseball.com Division II poll, sixth in the NCBWA poll and eighth in the Collegiate Baseball magazine rankings, in Northeast-10 Conference baseball action at Warrior Field this afternoon.

Merrimack collected 13 hits off seven different Franklin Pierce pitchers, opening a 6-0 lead after three innings. Senior Ryan Shepard (Andover, Mass./Andover) hit 2-for-3 with an RBI, while junior Mike Andre (Medford, Mass./Medford) was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Junior Bob McCarthy (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) batted 1-for-4 with two RBI, while classmate Doug Heald (Tewksbury, Mass./Tewksbury) finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

Freshman Keith Johansen (Tyngsborough, Mass./Tyngsborough) collected his first collegiate victory (1-0), allowing three earned runs on six hits with seven strikeouts and two walks over 6.2 innings. Freshman Jake Halloran (Stoneham, Mass./Malden Catholic) picked up his first save with 2.1 perfect innings of relief, striking out one.

Freshman Kyle Cabral (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) was the lone Franklin Pierce batter with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Grad student Jake Christman (Newton, Mass./Newton South) hit 1-for-4 with an RBI, while junior preseason All-American Scott Savastano (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) tripled and scored a run and classmate Cliff Hicks (Merrimack N.H./Merrimack) added a double and run scored.

Junior lefthander Tom Cote (Swanzey, N.H./Monadnock Regional) took the loss (2-1) on the mound for the Ravens, failing to get out of the first inning. He allowed an earned run on three walks, a hit batter and two wild pitches to go with a strikeout in two-thirds of an inning.

Merrimack opened the scoring in the first without the benefit of a hit. Sophomore Brendan Pyburn (Peabody, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) drew a lead off walk and later scored on a wild pitch. The Warriors scored three in the second on RBI singles from McCarthy and Shepard and a sacrifice fly from junior Jeff Bercume (Leicester, Mass./St. John’s Shrewsbury). Merrimack added two more in the third with an RBI single from Pyburn and a sac fly from McCarthy.

Franklin Pierce broke through in the fourth as Savastano led off with a triple and scored on a sac fly by senior Kevin Renaud (Southbridge, Mass./Southbridge). The Ravens got two more runs back in the seventh on RBI singles from Cabral and Christman, but Merrimack added an insurance run in the eighth and Halloran silenced the Ravens bats the rest of the way.

Franklin Pierce (22-4, 7-2 NE-10) is back in action tomorrow when it visits UMass Lowell at 7 p.m. The Ravens return home on Saturday for an NE-10 doubleheader with Bentley College beginning at noon. Merrimack (10-14, 7-5 NE-10) hosts Assumption College tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.