Roche clubs two home runs

RINDGE, N.H. (May 9, 2012) – Graduate student left-hander Jack Crawford (Montgomery, N.Y.) fired a four-hit shutout and struck out nine on Wednesday afternoon to lead the third-seeded and No. 14/26 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University baseball team to a 6-0 win over second-seeded Stonehill in a Northeast Division first round game in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field. Graduate student center fielder James Roche (Arlington, Mass.) hit a pair of home runs in the victory for Franklin Pierce.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 34-15-1 and advances to face the fourth seed out of the Southwest Division, New Haven (25-17-1) on Friday to open the double-elimination portion of the Championship. The Chargers downed top seed Pace, 6-0, in a first-round game on Tuesday. With the loss, Stonehill falls to 30-19 and is eliminated from the Championship.

By virtue of its 9-0 win over Bentley on Wednesday afternoon, Northeast Division top seed Saint Anselm will host the three-day, double-elimination segment, Friday through Sunday at Sullivan Park in Manchester, N.H. A full schedule for the event is at the end of this story, and also available at http://www.northeast10.org. Franklin Pierce and New Haven will be the very first game of the double-elimination part of the tournament, with first pitch scheduled for 10 a.m. on Friday.

Crawford was the story of the afternoon, as he refused to give the Stonehill offense a chance to get going. It was his fourth complete game of the season, as well as his third shutout, to run his record to 6-2. All four hits were singles, he faced only three batters over the minimum, thanks to a caught stealing to erase one baserunner, and Stonehill never got a runner past first base in the game. After a third-inning single, Crawford retired nine straight batters before a sixth-inning single, and then later retired the final eight batters to close out the contest.

Meanwhile, the Ravens opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, sophomore left fielder Calvin Graves (Boston, Mass.) poked a single back up the middle and moved to second on a hit-and-run single through the vacated shortstop position by senior second baseman Dan Hennigan (Downingtown, Pa.). Junior shortstop Dan Kemp (Sturbridge, Mass.) followed with a groundball to shortstop and legged out the back-end to prevent Stonehill from turning a double play. Graves rounded third hard, read the play, saw an opportunity on the throw to first and took off to score the game's first run on the play.

Franklin Pierce doubled the lead to 2-0 with an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Graves struck out on a ball in the dirt, but wound up at third base on the play, as the throw to first by sophomore catcher Colin Shepard sailed over the first baseman and down the right-field line. That flipped the lineup back to the top for Hennigan, who dropped down a squeeze bunt to drive in the run.

The Ravens pushed the lead to 3-0 with a run in the bottom of the sixth. Graduate student center fielder James Roche (Arlington, Mass.) led off the frame with a bullet of a home run to the power alley in left-center field for his team-leading 13th home run of the season.

Three more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning capped the scoring to create the 6-0 final. Kemp led off the inning with a hustle double up the middle, as a groundball tipped off the glove of the diving Stonehill shortstop and ricocheted into shallow center field. He would score when Roche followed with his second home run of the day, a two-run blast to about the same spot in left-center field. Sophomore first baseman Zach Mathieu (Derry, N.H.) started things back up again with a double the other way into the gap in right-center, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by freshman catcher Matt Walsh (Plymouth, Mass.).

Freshman right-hander Jim Duff took the ball and the loss (3-2) on the mound for Stonehill. Over 5.2 innings, he allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits, walked one, threw a wild pitch and struck out five.

Northeast-10 Conference Championship
(Seeds in parentheses)
Double elimination hosted by Saint Anselm College
Sullivan Park (Manchester, N.H.)

Friday, May 11
Game 5: (SW4) New Haven vs. (NE2) Franklin Pierce - 10 a.m.
Game 6: (SW2) Le Moyne at (NE1) Saint Anselm - 12:30 p.m.
Game 7: Game 5 Loser vs. Game 6 Loser - 3 p.m.

Saturday, May 12
Game 8: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner - Noon
Game 9: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser - 3 p.m.

Sunday, May 13
Game 10: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner - 11 a.m.
Game 11: Game 10 rematch*
* Game 11 only necessary if Game 9 Winner wins Game 10.
All games to be played at posted start time or 35 minutes after the game before, whichever is later.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics).