RINDGE, N.H. (May 20, 2016) – It was all Ravens early and all Ravens often on Friday evening at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field, as the No. 1/3 nationally ranked, top seed and host Franklin Pierce University baseball team piled up 18 runs on 18 hits in its opening game at the NCAA Championship East Regional. Five pitchers combined to author a four-hit shutout with nine strikeouts, as the Ravens blanked fourth-seeded Felician, 18-0.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 46-6 and advances to play at 7 p.m. on Saturday, against the winner of Friday's 9:15 p.m. game, which features third-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas and seventh-seeded Dowling. With the loss, Felician falls to 34-20 and will face elimination at 11 a.m. on Saturday against second-seeded Southern New Hampshire. For Franklin Pierce, it marked the largest shutout victory in NCAA Championship play in program history, as well as the second-most runs in an NCAA Championship game in program history, trailing only a 21-1 win over Southern Connecticut State in the title game of the 2006 Northeast Regional.

The Ravens jumped on top of Felician early on Friday evening, ambushing sophomore left-hander Jason Polgano for one in the first, three in the second and three in the third. In the bottom of the first, senior center fielder Maxx Sheehan (San Jose, Calif.) drove the second pitch of the inning the other way and into the gap in right-center field for a leadoff triple. Senior shortstop Justin Brock (Latham, N.Y.) was next and lifted a fly ball into shallow left-center field. Felician sophomore left fielder Matt Diesel wound up with the ball in his glove after a diving attempt, but it was ruled to have short-hopped into his glove, leaving Brock on second with an RBI double as Sheehan scored.

In the bottom of the second, senior left fielder Kurtis White (Nahant, Mass.) drove a 1-0 pitch off the fence in right-center for a one-out triple. Sophomore catcher Stephen Octave (New Windsor, N.Y.) followed and hit a sharp ground ball straight at the shortstop. White broke for the plate on contact and was dead to rites at the plate, but Felician sophomore shortstop Bruce Strickland spiked the throw home and it skipped past the catcher, allowing White to score on the error, while Octave reached on a fielder's choice. Octave would then score when junior second baseman Kyle Hood (Arlington, Mass.) turned on a 1-0 pitch and tucked his first home run of the season -- a two-run shot -- approximately 10 feet inside the left-field foul pole, with an estimated distance of 335 feet.

In the bottom of the third, senior right fielder Max DiTondo (Marshfield, Mass.) reached on a one-out error, moved to second on a groundout and went to third on a wild pitch before White worked a nine-pitch walk to put runners at the corners with one out. Octave then unloaded on the first pitch of his at-bat and drove a line drive home run of an estimated 365 feet to left-center field, a three-run shot and his second home run of the season.

The Ravens would add three more runs in the bottom of the fourth to break the game wide open and stretch the lead to 10-0. DiTondo did the damage this time, launching a three-run home run -- his fourth of the season -- an estimated 375 feet to right-center field.

Polgano (7-2) lasted just the first four innings against the onslaught, needing 83 pitches (59 strikes) to record 12 outs. He was knocked around to the tune of 10 runs (five earned) on nine hits, walked one, threw a wild pitch and struck out four while taking the loss.

Franklin Pierce kept things rolling against the Felician bullpen, striking for four more runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it 14-0. Junior third baseman Jay Jabs (Schwenksville, Pa.) did half the damage with a bases-loaded, one-out, two-run single through the right side of the infield and would later score a run of his own on a wild pitch. Junior designated hitter Chris LaVorgna (North Haven, Conn.) drove in the inning's remaining run with an RBI double the other way down the right-field line.

In the sixth, Jabs slugged a two-run double to right, Octave knocked an RBI single through the right side and Hood drove in a run with a sacrifice fly as the lead expanded to 18-0.

Lost a little amid the offensive outburst, perhaps, was the 5.1 innings of shutout baseball fired by senior right-hander Paul Covelle (Medford, Mass.). He departed after just 66 pitches (47 strikes), as the Ravens had already opened a huge lead and likely wanted to keep the option open of bringing the senior back on short rest later in the tournament, if needed. Covelle (10-1) allowed just three hits, did not issue a walk and struck out seven on the way to the win.

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).