Ravens host Stonehill in first round of Northeast-10 Championship Wednesday

RINDGE, N.H. (May 5, 2014) – Junior right-hander Brendan O'Rourke (Shrewsbury, Mass.) took over in a fourth-inning jam in a 3-3 game and fired 4.1 shutout innings, while sophomore first baseman Matt O'Herron (Springfield, Mass.) went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI hits on Monday afternoon as the No. 21 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University baseball team defeated Bentley, 7-3, in Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division play at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field. With the victory, in what was the regular-season finale for both clubs, Franklin Pierce claimed a share of the Northeast Division title.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 35-15 (20-6 Northeast-10, 15-6 Northeast Division), while Bentley falls to 22-17 (17-10 Northeast-10, 13-8 Northeast Division). Franklin Pierce claims its third straight division crown, as the Ravens won the division outright a year ago, after splitting the title with Saint Anselm in 2012. The Ravens have now reached the 35-win plateau in nine consecutive seasons.

Franklin Pierce will be the second seed out of the Northeast Division in this week's Northeast-10 Championship, as the Ravens lost the head-to-head tiebreaker with co-champion Southern New Hampshire, which will play as the top seed. Franklin Pierce will host third-seeded Stonehill in first-round play on Wednesday, May 7 at 4 p.m. at Pappas Field. In the other Northeast Division first round matchup, SNHU will host fourth-seeded Bentley at 6 p.m. Wednesday. It is the Northeast Division's turn to host the double-elimination, weekend portion of the Championship, after the Southwest hosted a year ago. As a result, the top seed to advance from Wednesday's games will host the remainder of the tournament Friday through Sunday.

With the game tied 3-3 through five innings, Franklin Pierce plated two runs each in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings to lay claim to the seventh regular season Northeast-10 title in program history. In the sixth, with one out, O'Herron pulled a single through the left side of the infield and moved to second when freshman right fielder Adam Routhier (Goffstown, N.H.) followed with a four-pitch walk. Two batters later, freshman third baseman Jay Jabs (Schwenksville, Pa.) pulled a two-strike single through the hole in the right side to load the bases for sophomore shortstop Justin Brock (Latham, N.Y.).

Brock jumped on the first pitch and put an RBI single through the left side of the infield to score O'Herron and give the Ravens a lead they would not relinquish. Senior center fielder Calvin Graves (Boston, Mass.) would ultimately make it three straight singles, as he hit a groundball over the mound and back up the middle. Bentley senior shortstop Will Brennan made a diving stop behind the bag and shoveled it to second in an attempt to force Brock and end the inning. Brock beat the throw to the bag, however, as Routhier came home with the second run of the inning.

The two insurance runs in the seventh began with a leadoff, four-pitch walk to senior designated hitter Marty Dunlap (Dorchester, Mass.), who moved to second on a single through the right side by junior catcher Matt Walsh (Plymouth, Mass.). O'Herron was next and dumped an 0-1 pitch the other way into right-center to score Dunlap and push Walsh around to third. Two batters later, Walsh scored as Hood beat out the back end of a potential double play to reach with an RBI fielder's choice as O'Herron was forced at second.

Meanwhile, O'Rourke was having his way with the Bentley lineup in a 70-pitch (43 strikes) relief appearance. He took over with runners at second and third, two outs and the score tied 3-3 in the top of the fourth. O'Rourke struck out Bentley's two hitter, freshman second baseman Burton Deady, swinging on five pitches to end the threat. It was the biggest threat O'Rourke would face over his outing, as Bentley got runners to third in the fifth and eighth against him, but could not find follow-up hits to cash in the runs. In all, O'Rourke logged 4.1 shutout innings, allowed two hits (both triples), walked two and struck out six to pick up the win (7-2).

Earlier in the day, Franklin Pierce opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first against Bentley junior left-hander David Long. Graves led off with a third-pitch single through the left side of the infield and stole second ahead of freshman left fielder Chris LaVorgna (North Haven, Conn.), who took a five-pitch walk. After an unsuccessful sacrifice attempt erased Graves, moved LaVorgna to second and put Dunlap on at first, Walsh flew out to the right fielder in the gap in right-center, which allowed LaVorgna to tag and take third.

With runners at first and third and two outs, Dunlap took off early from first, and Long threw behind him. LaVorgna waited for freshman first baseman Justin Ashworth to start towards second and broke for the plate when Ashworth set to throw the ball. With LaVorgna's speed, he would have certainly beaten any relay throw to the plate and likely would have scored before the Bentley infield could apply the tag to Dunlap. The point turned moot however, as Ashworth threw the ball away into left field on the play, leaving Dunlap safe at second base. Dunlap would score from there when O'Herron turned on a 2-1 pitch and lined an RBI double down the left-field line.

In all, Long threw 100 pitches (66 strikes) over seven innings of work on the mound for Bentley. He was charged with seven runs (six earned) on 11 hits, walked three, hit a batter, threw a wild pitch and struck out three while taking the loss (3-4).

Sophomore right-hander Paul Covelle (Medford, Mass.) started on the mound for Franklin Pierce and found himself in hot water in the top of the fourth inning, thanks in part to defensive lapses behind him, as Bentley scored three runs to tie the game at 3-3. Senior right fielder Tom Nagy led off with a groundball base hit back up the middle, which turned into a hustle double after Graves was lackadaisical getting to the ball in center field. After a strikeout for the first out, Covelle got sophomore catcher Bryan Rocha to pop up on the infield, but Jabs dropped the ball in the middle of the infield for an error as Rocha reached at first.

Senior third baseman Nate Witkowski was next and dropped an RBI single in front of Graves in center as Nagy came home to score and Rocha moved to second. After a single through the left side by senior designated hitter Dante Padovani loaded the bases, Ashworth hit a possible inning-ending double play ball straight at Jabs at third base. Jabs mishandled the ball initially, though he picked it up in time to step on third and force Witkowski, while Ashworth reached with an RBI fielder's choice as Rocha came home to score. Senior left fielder Sean Keady was next and hit another ball which could have ended the inning, as he hit a sharp groundball the other way which went straight to O'Herron at first on one hop. O'Herron could not handle the ball, however, as it bounced off his glove and down the right-field line for an error as Padovani came around to score from second.

The O'Herron error spelled the end of the day for Covelle, as O'Rourke came on and struck out Deady to prevent Bentley from taking the lead. Covelle threw 62 pitches (43 strikes) over 3.2 innings of work, allowed three runs (one earned) on six hits, did not issue a walk and struck out two without factoring in the decision.

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).