Adams throws six shutout innings to lead the Ravens in NE-10 opener

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (March 25, 2008) – The Franklin Pierce University baseball team, ranked fifth in this week’s pingbaseball.com Div. II poll, sixth in the latest NCBWA rankings and eighth in this week’s Collegiate Baseball magazine poll, opened defense of its 2007 Northeast-10 Conference championship with a 9-0 victory over Southern Connecticut State University in NE-10 conference action on Tuesday evening at The Ballpark at SCSU.

Senior captain Matt Anderson (Medford, Mass./Medford) led the 14-hit Raven attack with three hits in five at-bats, driving in a run and scoring two. Freshman Derek Ingui (Sterling, Mass./University of Tampa) went 2-for-5 with a two-run triple, totaling three RBI to go along with a run scored. Three other Ravens also recorded multiple hits, as junior preseason All-American Scott Savastano (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North), classmate Steve Carr (Nahant, Mass./ Lake City CC) and sophomore Kevin Rivers (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern) each had two hits, an RBI and a run scored for Franklin Pierce.

Four different Owls recorded one hit each on the afternoon, including the top third of the SCSU lineup. The top two starters in the lineup, Mike Diaz (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) and Kevin Bowerman (West Haven, Conn./West Haven), also reached base via a walk as well.

Junior All-Region righthander Mike Adams (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) kept the Owls at bay by throwing six innings of shutout ball, giving up only three hits while striking out six and walking four to earn the win (3-0). Sophomore Brian Maloney (Brockton, Mass./UMass Dartmouth) pitched the seventh and eighth innings while senior captain Tyler Bishop (Milford, N.H./University of Tampa) worked the ninth to complete the shutout.

The Ravens picked up a two-out run in the first inning as Savastano singled and advanced to third after a failed pickoff attempt by starting pitcher Justin Cox (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) before senior Kevin Renaud (Southbridge, Mass./Becker College) singled him home. Franklin Pierce added to its lead in the fifth inning, as a two-run triple by Ingui plated Anderson and grad student Jake Christman (Newton, Mass./Newton South).

The visitors then blew open the game with a six-run sixth inning, as eight of the first nine batters reached base. Anderson drove in Rivers with a single to begin the run, and five other Ravens recorded one RBI each in the inning to put Franklin Pierce firmly in control. Rivers reached back twice in the inning, singling to lead off the frame and later reaching on a fielder’s choice to plate Ingui for the Ravens’ last run of the day.

Franklin Pierce (14-2, 1-0 NE-10) is scheduled to host Southern Connecticut (10-10, 0-1 NE-10) in a Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader on Thursday beginning at 3:30 p.m.