Ravens plate 15-plus runs for fifth time on season

RINDGE, N.H. (April 14, 2015) – In its first game ever in the top spot of one of the major national polls, the No. 1/3 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University baseball team showed off an offense which came into the game hitting .305/.387/.463 on the season with a 24-hit attack in a 17-4 win over Saint Anselm in Northeast-10 Conference, Northeast Division play at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field. Sophomore shortstop Jay Jabs (Schwenksville, Pa.) led the way with a five-RBI day which included a pair of home runs and a two-run triple.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 31-2 (12-1 Northeast-10, 8-1 Northeast Division) and has won 12 in a row for the second time this year, while Saint Anselm falls to 9-16 (6-6 Northeast-10, 3-6 Northeast Division).

Saint Anselm opened the scoring on Tuesday with an unearned run in the top of the first inning. Junior center fielder Ken Morrisino worked a seven-pitch walk leading off. Freshman catcher Shaine Carpenter was next and hit a would-be double-play ball to third base, but the throw to second from freshman third baseman John Friday (Southborough, Mass.) sailed off-target and into the outfield, allowing Morrisino to advance to third. Morrisino scored from there when senior first baseman Mike Hayden followed and bounced into a 6-4-3 double play.

Franklin Pierce answered loudly in the bottom half of the first, as it sent 12 men to the plate and scored eight runs on eight hits while roughing up the Saint Anselm starter, junior left-hander Tyler Buck. Jabs helped account for half of the damage in the inning, as he slugged a two-run home run an estimated 350 feet, on a line to straightaway right field as the second batter of the inning, and then went the other way for a two-run triple into the gap in left-center as the 11th batter of the inning. For Jabs, it was his ninth home run of the season. Also in the frame, senior catcher Matt Walsh (Plymouth, Mass.) dumped an RBI single into left-center, junior left fielder Kurtis White (Nahant, Mass.) went back up the middle for an RBI single and Friday pulled an RBI single to left. Meanwhile, sophomore designated hitter Chris LaVorgna (North Haven, Conn.) was credited with a steal of home on a first-and-third double steal play.

The Ravens tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the second to break the game further open and push the lead to 11-1. Walsh and junior first baseman Matt O'Herron (Springfield, Mass.) pulled back-to-back singles through the left side to start the inning, which set the table for LaVorgna. LaVorgna got a 2-2 pitch over the heart of the plate and hit a towering home run to straightaway left, his fourth of the season, an estimated 350 feet into the berm behind the fence.

Franklin Pierce added another run in the bottom of the fifth, when Walsh singled into right-center and later scored when Friday drew a bases-loaded walk to force in a run. Saint Anselm cut the lead to 12-2 in the top half of the sixth, as Hayden singled to left-center and later scored on an RBI groundout by freshman designated hitter John Marculitis.

Three more runs in the bottom half of the sixth and two in the bottom of the eighth rounded out Franklin Pierce's scoring on the day. In the sixth, Jabs clubbed his second home run of the day, this one a high solo shot leading off the inning of an estimated 365 feet to straightaway right. Jabs became the 17th player in program history to hit 10 or more home runs in a season. Later in the frame, senior Rob Chooljian (Hampton, N.H.) put a pinch-hit, RBI single into right field and sophomore second baseman Kyle Hood (Arlington, Mass.) drove in a run with a single to right as well. In the eighth, freshman catcher Christopher Stanford (Quebec City, Quebec) tripled down the right-field line and scored on an RBI, pinch-hit groundout by freshman Stephen Octave (New Windsor, N.Y.). Later, senior Chris Berry (Warren, N.J.) took a five-pitch walk and later scored an unearned run on an error which prolonged the inning.

Saint Anselm plated a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to create the 17-4 final. Sophomore right fielder Jon McQuarrie walked and freshman shortstop Max Wadington singled to open the inning, and both later scored on a two-run single back through the middle by Hayden.

Sophomore right-hander Mike Lundin (Kingston, Mass.) took the ball for the Ravens and threw 92 pitches (58 strikes) over the first six innings. He allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits, walked two, threw a wild pitch and struck out six while picking up the win (6-0).

Buck started on the hill for Saint Anselm, but was knocked out of the box before completing the first inning. He threw 30 pitches (17 strikes) while working two-thirds of an inning. Each of the first six batters of the game reached base against Buck, and he was ultimately charged with seven runs on seven hits and a walk while taking the loss (2-2).

The Ravens return to the field on Saturday, April 18, when they travel to Merrimack for the start of a three-game, weekend, Northeast-10 Conference, Northeast Division series. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Warrior Baseball Diamond in North Andover, Mass. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Thursday, April 23 against LIU Post at 3 p.m.

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).