Ravens finish tied for fifth nationally

CARY, N.C. (May 29, 2013) – Junior first baseman Zach Mathieu (Derry, N.H.) laced a two-run double into the right-field corner in the third inning on Wednesday afternoon at Coleman Field at the USA Baseball National Training Complex, but it would be the final run-scoring play of the season for the No. 11 nationally ranked and East Region Franklin Pierce University baseball team. The double gave the team a 3-1 lead at the time, but the pitching staff surrendered five in the bottom half of the third as the Ravens went on to a 10-3 loss at the hands of No. 14/18 and Midwest Region champion Grand Valley State on the fifth day of the NCAA Championship National Finals, hosted by Town of Cary and Mount Olive College.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce sees its season come to an end at 37-19 and finishes in a tie for fifth in the country. With the win, Grand Valley State improves to 37-18 and advances to play Tampa at 3 p.m. on Thursday. GVSU will have to beat Tampa both Thursday and Friday to advance to Saturday's national title game.

Grand Valley State opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the second inning. Senior right fielder Chris Rudenga opened the frame with a single to left-center. Sophomore designated hitter Jesse Abel was next and attempted to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but reached safely at first as the throw by junior right-hander Kevin McGowan (Nashua, N.H.) was high and pulled the covering second baseman off the bag. After a successful sacrifice moved the runners to second and third, junior shortstop Stuart Eisler pulled a second-pitch RBI single into left field to score Rudenga.

Franklin Pierce briefly took a 3-1 lead with a trio of runs in the top of the third. With one out, sophomore third baseman Matt O'Herron (Springfield, Mass.) was hit by a pitch and moved to second when freshman second baseman Justin Brock (Latham, N.Y.) followed with a single through the left side of the infield. Junior left fielder Calvin Graves (Boston, Mass.) was next and hit a slow ground ball to shortstop. GVSU forced out Brock at second, and sophomore second baseman Kevin Zak temporarily had ideas of doubling up Graves at first. However, in his hurry, Zak dropped the baseball behind second base, which allowed O'Herron to race home to score. Senior shortstop Dan Kemp (Sturbridge, Mass.) then hit a ball deep in the hole at shortstop, and Eisler probably should have just held the baseball, but attempted to make a throw across the diamond, which allowed Graves to move to third as Kemp reached on the infield single. This put runners at the corners for Mathieu who went the other way with a 1-1 pitch and lined a ball past the first baseman and into the right-field corner to score both runners.

The lead was short-lived, as the Lakers answered with five runs in the bottom half of the third to take a 6-3 lead they would never relinquish. Senior third baseman Stephen Claypool opened the inning and knocked the first pitch into the gap in left-center for a lead-off double. He would score immediately, when Zak followed and looped a single into center, and then took second on the throw to the plate. After a walk to junior first baseman Giancarlo Brugnoni and a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third, McGowan was removed in favor of junior right-hander Ryan Leach (Farmingdale, Maine).

Leach's National Finals nightmare continued, as he had his second outing in as many games without recording an out. The first pitch he threw -- to Rudenga -- was a wild pitch outside and to the backstop, which allowed Zak to score and Brugnoni to move to third. Later in the at-bat, Rudenga looped a single into right-center which fell just in front of charging Franklin Pierce senior right fielder Nick LaCroix (Grafton, Mass.), allowing Brugnoni to come in to score. Abel followed and ripped a fly ball over the head of the center fielder and to the warning track at the 400-foot mark in straightaway center for an RBI triple to plate Rudenga.

That was it for Leach, as sophomore right-hander Doug Willey (Shelburne, N.H.) took over. He would retire both batters he faced to end the inning, but not before junior catcher Taylor Banks lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Abel with the inning's fifth run.

In all, McGowan threw 41 pitches -- 25 for strikes -- in his 2.1-inning outing. He allowed four runs on five hits, walked two and did not record a strikeout while taking the loss (7-2).

Willey kept the Lakers off the board again until the bottom of the sixth, when they struck for two runs to push the lead to 8-3 and break the game open. With one out, sophomore center fielder Mike Nadratowski lined a single to left and moved to second on a balk. A baserunning blunder appeared to short-circuit the inning, as Nadratowski broke for third on a comebacker to Willey, who threw to O'Herron for the out as Claypool reached at first on a fielder's choice. But then, a single to left-center by Zak put runners at first and third with two outs, and both runners came around to score when Brugnoni doubled to deep center.

In his final collegiate game, senior right-hander Ryan Thompson (Calgary, Alberta) -- who has fought injury at the tail-end of his career -- came on for one final appearance in the seventh inning. He did not allow a run on three hits, threw a wild pitch and struck out one.

Two more for GVSU in the bottom of the eighth created the 10-3 final. Claypool led off the inning with a walk, and two batters later, Brugnoni worked a walk as well. Claypool scored on an RBI double down the left-field line by junior pinch hitter Chris Ripple, while Brugnoni came in on a sacrifice fly to left by Rudenga.

Freshman right-hander Patrick Kelly threw the first seven innings for Grand Valley State. He allowed three runs on seven hits, did not issue a walk, hit a batter and struck out three to pick up the win (8-3).

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). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce baseball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).