Pitching Stumbles in Front End, Bats Exact Vengeance in Second Game as No. 30 Baseball Splits Twinbill at Adelphi

11-hit attack leads way in nightcap

Box score (Game 1)
Box score (Game 2) 

GARDEN CITY, N.Y (March 22, 2014) – Senior designated hitter Marty Dunlap (Dorchester, Mass.) went 3-for-5 and every starter but one scored at least one run on Saturday afternoon as the No. 30 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University baseball team powered its way to a 9-3 victory in the second game of a Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader against Adelphi at William J. Bonomo Field. In the first game of the twinbill, Adelphi senior Brandon Stahl hit 3-for-4, scored three times and drove in three runs to lead a 14-hit Panther attack to an 11-2 win.

With the split, Franklin Pierce moves to 14-8 (1-1 Northeast-10), while Adelphi now stands at 5-8 (1-1 Northeast-10). The games were the first contests of the Northeast-10 schedule for both teams.

Adelphi broke the first game open early, as it sent 12 men to the plate to tally seven runs on just five hits, thanks in part of four walks issued by Franklin Pierce pitching. The lack of control would be a theme in the first game for the Ravens' hurlers, as six pitchers combined to issue seven free passes (one intentional) and throw two wild pitches, though they recorded 10 strikeouts along the way as well.

Senior third baseman Richard Mejia had the only two extra-base hits of the second inning, as he tripled and scored leading off the frame before coming to the plate again and providing the inning's keynote address, a three-run double to center field. Also in the inning, Stahl had an RBI single to right and senior second baseman Rob Burns had an RBI single to left, while senior catcher Kevin Hutzel and junior right fielder Nick Zito both drove in runs by working bases-loaded walks.

Franklin Pierce picked up what turned out to be its only two runs of the game in the top of the fourth. Junior catcher Matt Walsh (Plymouth, Mass.) led off with a single to left field and moved to second on a wild pitch. He would score three batters later on a two-out RBI double by freshman left fielder Chris LaVorgna (North Haven, Conn.), who went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles in the game. LaVorgna then scored when freshman second baseman Kyle Hood (Arlington, Mass.) followed with an RBI single to left.

Adelphi tacked on two runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth to create the 11-2 final in Saturday's first game. In the seventh, Burns had an RBI single to right and was replaced by a pinch runner, junior second baseman Vincent Sharkey, who later scored on an error. In the ninth, Stahl cranked a two-run home run, his first of the season.

Sophomore right-hander Paul Covelle (Medford, Mass.) started on the hill for Franklin Pierce, but recorded just three outs, as he pitched to five batters in the second, with all five reaching, before being lifted. By the time the book was closed on Covelle, he was charged with five runs on four hits, walked one, struck out two and took the loss (1-2).

Meanwhile, sophomore right-hander Jonathon Mulford took the ball for Adelphi. He fired eight innings, allowed two runs on nine hits, walked one, threw a wild pitch and struck out six to pick up the win (2-1).

In the second game, Franklin Pierce opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the second inning. Walsh pulled a lead-off single to left field, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and later scored on an RBI double down the left-field line by LaVorgna, his third double of the day.

The Ravens added a run in the top of the fourth to push the lead to 3-0. Dunlap led off and yanked a double down the left-field line. He moved to second on a groundout and later scored on an RBI single to center by senior center fielder Calvin Graves (Boston, Mass.).

Adelphi got on the board with a run in the bottom of the sixth to cut the gap to 3-1. With two outs, Mejia clubbed a double to center field and was lifted for freshman pinch runner Eric Hassell, who scored when senior first baseman Kyle Ambury followed with an RBI single to left field.

The game remained 3-1 until the top of the ninth inning, when Franklin Pierce broke the game open with six runs on four hits while sending nine men to the plate, though the inning's early runs proved to be important insurance markers. Immediately following back-to-back walks -- the second of which was a bases-loaded free pass to Walsh to force in a run -- sophomore first baseman Matt O'Herron (Springfield, Mass.) provided the blow which put the game on ice, a two-run single to center field. Dunlap and Hood also drove in runs later in the inning, the former while reaching on a fielder's choice and the latter on an RBI single to left field.

Adelphi scratched together two runs in the home half of the ninth, but could get no closer, as the runs merely cut the final deficit to 9-3. Junior third baseman Donato Signore led off the inning with a single to left and moved to second when junior pinch hitter Tyler Decker followed with a single of his own. Freshman pinch hitter Robert Vani was next and socked an RBI double to center field, which scored Donato and pushed Decker around to third. Decker would score from there three batters later on an RBI single to left by Stahl, who finished 7-for-9 in the doubleheader.

Junior right-hander Brendan O'Rourke (Shrewsbury, Mass.) took the ball in the second game for Franklin Pierce and provided some much-needed innings after the team burned through six arms in the first game of a four-game weekend. O'Rourke logged 7.2 innings, allowed one run on seven hits, walked two and struck out four on the way to the win (3-1). Graduate student left-hander Rob Corsi (Oceanport, N.J.) came on with two outs and runners at first and second in the bottom of the eighth, with the Ravens clinging to a 3-1 lead. Corsi walked the first batter he faced to load the bases, but then struck out Zito to leave the tying run standing at second base. Corsi pitched the ninth as well, after Franklin Pierce expanded the lead, and finished the game to pick up his first save as a Raven.

Senior right-hander Stephen Bove was the first eight Adelphi pitchers paraded to the mound by head coach Dom Scala in the second game. Bove lasted just 1.2 innings, allowed two runs on three hits, walked one, hit a batter and struck out one while taking the loss (1-2).

The Ravens return to the field on Sunday, March 23, when they travel to Pace for a Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for noon at Peter X. Finnerty Field in Pleasantville, N.Y.

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).