Vazquez strikes out 10 in victory

Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

RINDGE, N.H. (April 11, 2009) – Junior right-hander Kyle Vazquez (Berlin, Conn./Berlin) scattered four hits and struck out 10 over eight shutout innings on Saturday afternoon to lead the Franklin Pierce University baseball team to a 5-0 win over Merrimack in the first game of a Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field. Junior right-hander Ryan McNeil (Lynnfield, Mass./Lynnfield) tossed a complete-game six-hitter and allowed just two runs to lead Merrimack to a 6-2 win in the second game.

Franklin Pierce opened the scoring in a hurry with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore designated hitter Derek Ingui (Sterling, Mass./Wachusett Regional) jumped on the first pitch thrown by Merrimack freshman right-hander James Haughney (Orlando, Fla./Bishop Moore) and hit a solo home run, his fourth of the season, to straightaway left field.

The Ravens pushed the lead to 3-0 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Freshman catcher Mike Dowd (East Bridgewater, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) led off with a single up the middle, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored when senior left fielder Ted Lerud (Hampden, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) pulled a double which rattled up against the fence in left field. Lerud then stole third and scored when fifth-year center fielder Cliff Hicks (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack HS) went the other way and poked an RBI single into shallow right field over the drawn-in infield.

Franklin Pierce added another run to make it 4-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Junior right fielder Kevin Rivers (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern) led off and poked a double down the right-field line. He moved to third on a bunt single by Lerud and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Hicks.

The Ravens extended the lead to 5-0 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning when Ingui launched his second solo home run of the game, this one to the gap in left-center field.

Vazquez started on the mound, tossed eight shutout innings and picked up the win (6-0) for Franklin Pierce in the first game. He surrendered just four hits, walked one, threw a wild pitch and struck out 10, one off his career high.

Haughney threw a complete game and took the loss (0-4) for Merrimack. Over eight innings, he gave up five runs on nine hits, walked one and struck out seven.

Franklin Pierce played the second game as the visiting team and opened the scoring with a run in the top of the fourth inning when Lerud led off the frame with a solo home run, his fourth of the season, to straightaway left field.

Merrimack would then take a 5-1 lead with five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. With one out, freshman shortstop Tim Curran (South Weymouth, Mass./Northfield Mt. Hermon) was hit by a pitch and subsequently erased at second base as junior left fielder Andrew Johnson (Warwick, R.I./Dean CC) bounced into a fielder’s choice. Johnson took second on a wild pitch, stole third as senior catcher Bob McCarthy (Chelmsford, Mass./Burlington) walked and scored on a wild pitch that moved McCarthy to second. Freshman right fielder Steve Buitkus (Reading, Mass./Reading) was then hit by a pitch and freshman designated hitter Ray Walker (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) worked a walk to load the bases. Senior center fielder Jeff Bercume (Leicester, Mass./St. John’s Shrewsbury) followed and pulled a bases-clearing, three-run triple deep into the gap in right-center field to make it 4-1. Sophomore third baseman Mike Dooling (Milford, Conn./Joseph Foran) then capped the scoring in the inning with an infield single to third base which drove home Bercume.

Franklin Pierce narrowed the deficit to 5-2 with a run in the top of the sixth inning. With one out, freshman third baseman Ben Benigno (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) worked a walk but was erased at second base as Hicks reached on a fielder’s choice. Hicks came all the way around from first to score when senior first baseman Steve Carr (Nahant, Mass./Lake City CC) belted an RBI double into the left-center field gap.

Merrimack would answer and get the run back in the bottom half of the sixth to extend the lead to 6-2. Junior first baseman Matt Hogan (Andover, Mass./Northern Essex CC) led off with an infield single in the hole at shortstop, moved to second on a sacrifice and scored when McCarthy looped a single into right-center.

Fifth-year left-hander Steve Cadoret (Sterling, Mass./Boston College) started on the hill, threw 4.2 innings and took the loss (0-2) for Franklin Pierce in the second game. He was touched up for five runs on two hits, walked four, hit a pair of batters, threw two wild pitches and struck out four.

McNeil went the distance to pick up the win (3-1) for Merrimack. Over nine innings, he gave up two runs on six hits, walked three and struck out three.

The Ravens (18-13, 9-4 Northeast-10) return to the field on Monday, April 13, when they make the return trip to Merrimack (12-15, 3-10 Northeast-10) for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Warrior Baseball Diamond in North Andover, Mass.