No. 3/4 Baseball Caps Weekend Sweep with 13-0 Blanking of Bentley

RINDGE, N.H. (April 17, 2016) – Five runs in the bottom of the third inning took the drama out of the game early in Sunday afternoon's series finale at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field. In all, the No. 3/4 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University baseball team hammered out 18 hits in a 13-0 whitewashing of Bentley to complete the three-game weekend sweep in Northeast-10 Conference, Northeast Division play.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 31-4 (13-3 Northeast-10, 8-1 Northeast Division), while Bentley falls to 9-20 (4-10 Northeast-10, 1-9 Northeast Division).

Franklin Pierce opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, senior right fielder Max DiTondo (Marshfield, Mass.) took a one-out walk and moved to third on a double deep into the gap in left-center by senior first baseman Matt O'Herron (Springfield, Mass.), which Bentley freshman left fielder Cameron Cruz appeared to lose in the sun at the last second. Two batters later, DiTondo scored on an RBI infield single by sophomore catcher Christopher Stanford (Quebec City, Quebec).

The Ravens broke the game open with a quintet of runs in the home half of the third to push the lead to 6-0. Senior shortstop Justin Brock (Latham, N.Y.) started things with a one-out single, as he beat out a chopper deep in the hole at shortstop. Brock was in motion on a 1-2 pitch to junior third baseman Jay Jabs (Schwenksville, Pa.), who drilled the ball on one hop off the back of the Bentley starting pitcher, freshman right-hander Paul Frisoli. The ball deflected off Frisoli and through the vacated left side of the infield thanks to the hit-and-run, and would ultimately go for a double, while Brock took third. Junior designated hitter Chris LaVorgna (North Haven, Conn.) was next and hit an RBI groundout on the left side to score Brock and move Jabs to third.

After a four-pitch walk to DiTondo, Franklin Pierce put on the delayed double-steal play in the first-and-third situation. The throw went through to second with two outs, which allowed Jabs to record a steal of home. After O'Herron walked and senior second baseman Kurtis White (Nahant, Mass.) reached on an error, Stanford worked the count full with the bases loaded. With two outs, all three runners were in motion, which allowed Stanford to pick up two RBIs on an infield single deep in the hole at shortstop. Another first-and-third double steal then resulted in White swiping home to cap the inning's scoring.

Franklin Pierce tacked on one run in the fourth and two in the sixth to push the lead to 9-0. In the fourth, senior center fielder Maxx Sheehan (San Jose, Calif.) singled to center and later scored on an RBI groundout by Jabs. In the sixth, junior second baseman Kyle Hood (Arlington, Mass.) singled and scored on an RBI single by Jabs, while Sheehan singled and then scored as LaVorgna bounced into an RBI fielder's choice.

The Ravens bench tacked on four runs in the bottom of the eighth to create the 13-0 final. Singles by freshmen Carmine Giordano (New Rochelle, N.Y.) and Tyler Price (Plantation, Fla.), along with a walk to sophomore Adam Chase (Bridgewater, Mass.), loaded the bases with two outs for freshman Ryan Boldwin (Bow, N.H.). The latter worked the count full and then drove the seventh pitch of the at-bat off the scoreboard in deep right-center field for his first career home run, a grand slam of an estimated 390 feet.

Freshman right-hander Tanner Putnam (New Boston, N.H.) started and threw 50 pitches (29 strikes) over the first three innings, but was lifted before he could qualify to earn the win. Over three shutout innings, he allowed one hit, walked two and struck out three. Senior right-hander Tanner Bird (Adams, Mass.) followed with three shutout innings as well, allowed two hits, walked one and struck out one to pick up the win (4-0) out of the bullpen. In all, seven Franklin Pierce pitchers combined to throw a four-hit shutout.

Frisoli (1-3) tossed 81 pitches (47 strikes) over four innings on the hill for Bentley. He was tagged for seven runs (four earned) on eight hits, walked three, hit a batter and struck out one on the way to the loss.

The Ravens return to the field on Wednesday, April 20, when they remain home to wrap up a 10-game homestand by playing host to Bridgeport in a non-conference contest. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Pappas Field.

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).