Junior right-hander strikes out 11

Box Score

LOWELL, Mass. (April 25, 2010) – Junior right-hander Jose Macias (Bronx, N.Y.) struck out 11 over 6.1 shutout innings on Sunday afternoon to lead the No. 30 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University baseball team to a 5-1 victory over Massachusetts Lowell in Northeast-10 Conference play at LeLacheur Park. It marked the third consecutive game in which a Franklin Pierce pitcher has recorded 10 or more strikeouts.

With the victory, Franklin Pierce improves to 31-11-1 (17-5-1 Northeast-10) and has won five games in a row. With the loss, Massachusetts Lowell falls to 24-19 (11-12 Northeast-10).

Franklin Pierce opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first inning. With one out, sophomore catcher Mike Dowd (East Bridgewater, Mass.) lined a single to center field and came all the way around to score when junior third baseman Derek Ingui (Sterling, Mass.) followed and drove a double the other way into the right-center field gap.

The Ravens doubled their lead to 2-0 with another run in the top of the second inning. With one our, freshman center fielder Nick LaCroix (Grafton, Mass.) turned on a pitch and drove a double do left field. He then scored on a single off the end of the bat into shallow center field by graduate student first baseman Mike Augustine (Kingston, N.Y.).

Franklin Pierce then stretched the lead out to 5-0 with three runs in the top of the fifth inning. Ingui started things with a single to center field, which brought junior left fielder Mike Munoz (Bronx, N.Y.) to the plate for what proved to be one of the pivotal plays of the game. Munoz grounded what could have been a double-play ball to short, but the feed from Massachusetts Lowell freshman shortstop Monte Marrocco sailed wide of senior second baseman J.T. Leary and wound up in right field, which allowed Ingui to end up at third and Munoz to take second. Senior right fielder Phil Hendricks (Pittsfield, Maine) followed with a looping single over the drawn-in infield into right field to drive home Ingui and Munoz would then score on a passed ball. That brought up LaCroix again, who this time went the other way and clubbed a triple between the outfielders and into the right-center field gap to bring home Hendricks.

Massachusetts Lowell got on the board with a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to create the 5-1 final. With one out, sophomore third baseman Cam Kneeland dumped a single into right-center, was awarded second on a balk and later scored on an RBI single through the left side of the infield by Leary.

Macias was stellar on the mound to pick up the win (7-0) for Franklin Pierce. He struck out 11 and allowed just one baserunner to reach third base over 6.1 shutout innings. Macias gave up just four hits, walked one and threw a wild pitch. He held the top four spots in the Massachusetts Lowell lineup hitless over 12 at-bats while he was on the hill.

Junior right-hander Dustin Ramey started on the rubber and took the loss (6-4) for Massachusetts Lowell. Over four-plus innings of work, he allowed five runs (four earned) on 11 hits, did not issue a walk, hit a batter and did not record a strikeout.

The Ravens return to the field on Tuesday, April 25, when they return home to host Massachusetts Lowell in a Northeast-10 Conference contest. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Pierce Pride night at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field in Rindge, N.H.