Adams, Rivers and Anderson power Ravens past Sharks

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (March 19, 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, rebounded from a tough loss on Tuesday with a 13-0 victory over Nova Southeastern University at NSU Sports Complex tonight.

Eight of Franklin Pierce’s 14 hits went for extra bases, including three home runs on the night. The Ravens were led by senior Matt Anderson (Medford, Mass./Medford), who hit 4-for-5 with a double, home run, three runs scored and two RBI. Sophomore Kevin Rivers (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern) was 4-5 with a double, two runs scored and three RBI, while senior Kevin Renaud (Southbridge, Mass./Southbridge) finished 2-4 with a triple and two runs scored. Junior Cliff Hicks (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack) and freshman Derek Ingui (Sterling, Mass.) each added a home run for the Ravens.

Junior Mike Adams (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) improved to 3-0 on the season with seven innings of four-hit shutout work, striking out five and walking two.

Freshman David Robinson (Bunnell, Fla.) was the lone Nova Southeastern batter with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-3. Freshman Ryan Whelan (Boca Raton, Fla.) suffered the loss for the Sharks, yielding six earned runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts over 3.2 innings.

Franklin Pierce struck with four runs in the first inning, with the big hit a three run home run by Hicks. The Ravens added solo runs in the third and fourth innings before scoring two more on a two run homer by Anderson in the top of the seventh. The scoring continued with an RBI triple by Jake Christman (Newton, Mass./Newton South) and a two run homer by Ingui, before Rivers closed out the six-run frame with an RBI single by Rivers. Franklin Pierce tacked on an insurance run in the top of the eighth inning.

Franklin Pierce (11-2, 0-0 NE-10) is back in action tomorrow when it opens a two game set against Palm Beach Atlantic University at 7 p.m. Nova Southeastern (16-11, 3-1 SSC) hosts Lynn University on Friday at 6 p.m.