Cote Leads Way As Baseball Blanks Assumption, 3-0
Senior tosses eight shutout innings
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Tom Cote threw eight shutout innings, allowed four hits and
matched his career high with 11 strikeouts to pick up the win on
Tuesday afternoon against Assumption.RINDGE, N.H. (April 14,
2009) – Senior right-hander Tom Cote (Swanzey, N.H./Monadnock
Regional) threw eight shutout innings and matched his career
high with 11 strikeouts on Tuesday afternoon to lead the Franklin
Pierce University baseball team to a 3-0 victory over Assumption in
Northeast-10 Conference play at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field.
Freshman catcher Mike Dowd (East
Bridgewater, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) went 2-for-4 with an
RBI double and scored a run on the afternoon.
Franklin Pierce opened the scoring with a run without the benefit
of a hit in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, graduate
student center fielder Cliff Hicks
(Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack HS) worked a walk then stole
second and stole third. After a walk to freshman third baseman
Ben Benigno (Trumbull,
Conn./Trumbull) put runners at the corners, Hicks scored on
a delayed steal of home as Benigno stole second.
The Ravens added a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning
to take a 3-0 lead, which would prove to be the final score. With
one out, sophomore designated hitter Derek Ingui (Sterling, Mass./Wachusett
Regional) lined a single into left-center field and came all
the way around to score from right-center field when Dowd hit a
double that hopped over the head of the right fielder in the
right-center field gap. Dowd moved to third when junior right
fielder Kevin Rivers (Bristol,
Conn./Bristol Eastern) roped a single into right field and
then scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by senior left
fielder Ted Lerud (Hampden,
Mass./Minnechaug Regional).
Meanwhile, Cote threw a gem on the mound to pick up the win (5-2)
for Franklin Pierce. Over eight shutout innings, he allowed four
hits, walked one and matched his career high with 11 strikeouts.
Sophomore right-hander Rob
Nicholas (Northboro, Mass./Algonquin Regional) threw a
scoreless night, allowed one hit and struck out one to notch his
fifth save of the season.
Senior right-hander Jeff Barbale (Charlton, Mass./Saint
Peter-Marian) tossed seven innings and took the loss (5-2) for
Assumption. He surrendered three runs on six hits, walked two and
struck out five.
The Ravens (20-13, 11-4 Northeast-10) return to the field on
Thursday, April 16, when they make the return trip to Assumption
(17-12-1, 10-5-1 Northeast-10) for a Northeast-10 Conference
contest. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Rocheleau Field
in Worcester, Mass.