Renaud and Maloney lead top-seeded Ravens past third-seeded Owls

RINDGE, N.H. (May 16, 2008) – Top-seeded and host Franklin Pierce University, ranked 14th in this week’s pingbaseball.com Division II poll and 21st in the Collegiate Baseball magazine rankings, eliminated third-seeded Southern Connecticut State University, ranked 26th in the pingbaseball.com poll, with a 7-3 victory in game five of the 2008 NCAA Division II Northeast Regional Championships at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field this afternoon.

Franklin Pierce (41-12) will face the winner of tonight’s final game between fifth-seeded Dowling College (29-17) and fourth-seeded Caldwell College (33-17), which was suspended due to rain and will conclude tomorrow at 3 p.m. Dowling holds a 1-0 lead after two innings. The Ravens will face the winner of that game at 6:30 p.m. Second-seeded Bryant University (40-20) avoided elimination in today’s opening game with a 10-3 victory that eliminated sixth-seeded LIU-C.W. Post (29-27). The Bulldogs will face the loser of tonight’s suspended game tomorrow at 10 p.m.

Southern Connecticut State completes its season with an overall record of 36-19.

“I thought our team battled hard and had the top seed even for six innings,” said Southern Connecticut Head Coach Tim Shea. “We had that one bad inning where we gave then five runs and it kind of broke our back a little bit.”

Sophomore lefthander Brian Maloney (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) earned his eighth win of the season (8-1) on the mound for Franklin Pierce, allowing just an unearned run on five hits with eight strikeouts and three walks over eight innings of work. Senior All-Region righthander Tyler Bishop (Milford, N.H./Milford) notched his ninth save of the season, striking out the only batter he faced after entering the game with runners on first and third after Southern had scored twice to put the tying run on deck.

“(Brian) has been doing a great job for us all year,” said Franklin Pierce Head Coach Jayson King. “He’s a tough match up for (Southern Connecticut) with three good pitches that he can throw at any time, with a lot of lefties in their lineup.”

Senior All-Region centerfielder Kevin Renaud (Southbridge, Mass./Southbridge) paced the Ravens offensive attack, which collected 13 hits, batting 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. Junior Steve Carr (Nahant, Mass./St. Mary’s) was 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and run scored, while classmate Cliff Hicks (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack) hit 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored. Freshman Derek Ingui (Sterling, Mass./Wachusett Regional) finished 2-for-4 with a double.

Junior Karl Derbacher (Northford, Conn./North Branford) hit 2-for-5 with two RBI for Southern Connecticut. Freshman Nick DeProspo (Worcester, Mass./St. John’s) was 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Senior Toby Nylin (Pleasant Valley, Conn./Northwestern Regional) took the loss for the Owls (5-3), allowing six runs, just two earned, on 11 hits with four strikeouts and no walks in 5.2 innings of work.

The two teams combined to strand five runners over the first three innings, before each scored unearned runs in the fourth. Senior Anthony Fiorillo (New Haven, Conn.) drew a lead off walk for the Owls and advanced to third when freshman Andrew Babb (Hopkinton, Mass./Ashland) reached on an error. DeProspo followed by lofting a sacrifice fly to deep center to score Fiorillo.

Franklin Pierce answered in the home half as senior Matt Anderson (Medford, Mass./Medford) led off with a single, was sacrificed to second by Carr and scored when Hicks reached on another Southern error. The Ravens took control of the contest with a five run sixth, four of which were unearned due to a pair of Owl errors. Hicks drove in the go-ahead run with a single to center and later scored on a sac fly to center by grad student Jake Christman (Newton, Mass./Newton South). Renaud put the Ravens up 6-1 with a three-run homer to left.

Franklin Pierce added a seventh run in the seventh as junior preseason All-American Scott Savastano (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) drew a leadoff walk and later scored on a single up the middle by Carr.

Southern forced Franklin Pierce to bring on its All-Region closer by loading the bases with one out in the ninth. Derbacher chased the Ravens second reliever of the inning, junior Alex Szymanski (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry), with a two-out two-run single to right center with the bases loaded.