Hendricks, Wenrich drive home two each

Box Score

WEST HAVEN, Conn. (May 13, 2010) – Senior right fielder Phil Hendricks (Pittsfield, Maine) and sophomore first baseman Isaac Wenrich (Westlawn, Pa.) drove in two runs each on Thursday afternoon to lead the No. 22/24 nationally ranked and second-seeded Franklin Pierce University baseball team to an 8-1 victory over fifth-seeded C.W. Post on the first day of the NCAA Championship East Regional, hosted by Southern Connecticut State at historic Yale Field in West Haven, Conn.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 37-14-1 and will play at 7 p.m. Friday against the winner of Thursday night's final game, between third-seeded New Haven and fourth-seeded Stonehill. With the loss, C.W. Post falls to 31-16-1 and will face elimination at 11 a.m. Friday against sixth-seeded Dominican.

Franklin Pierce opened the scoring with four runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back. Senior second baseman Cody Kauffman (Blue Bell, Pa.) led off with a double inside the right-field line, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single through the left side by sophomore catcher Mike Dowd (East Bridgewater, Mass.). After a walk to junior left fielder Mike Munoz (Bronx, N.Y.) and a single by junior third baseman Derek Ingui (Sterling, Mass.) loaded the bases, Hendricks worked a walk to drive in the second run of the game. Next, freshman center fielder Nick LaCroix (Grafton, Mass.) looped a single into right field to drive home Ingui and Wenrich worked a walk to force in the final run of the inning.

The Ravens added another run in the bottom of the second to make it a 5-0 game. With two outs, Munoz singled to right field and came all the way around to score on a double down the left-field line by Hendricks.

C.W. Post got on the board with a run in the top of the third to cut the lead to 5-1. With one out, freshman second baseman Casey McKay reached on an error and moved to second when freshman center fielder Zack Graczyk was hit by a pitch. Senior right fielder Mike Callaghan followed with an RBI single to center field to plate McKay.

The game would remain 5-1 until Franklin Pierce tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh and one more in the eighth. In the seventh, Wenrich drove home a run with a single to center, while junior designated hitter Eric Pearson (Webster, N.H.) clubbed an RBI triple over the head of the left fielder. In the eighth, Ingui singled home a run with a base hit to center.

Junior right-hander Jose Macias (Bronx, N.Y.) started on the mound and picked up the win (9-1) for Franklin Pierce. Over eight innings, he allowed just one unearned run on six hits, walked three and struck out six.

Senior right-hander Pete Budkevics took the ball and took the loss (8-3) for C.W. Post. In six innings on the rubber, he allowed five runs on eight hits, walked five and struck out five.