RINDGE, N.H. (April 26, 2017) – Three pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts in a two-hit shutout, and graduate student left fielder Anthony DeDona (Bethpage, N.Y.) socked a long, three-run home run in the top of the eighth on Wednesday night, to highlight a 6-0 win for the Franklin Pierce University baseball team over Saint Anselm. Junior right-hander Mike Lundin (Kingston, Mass.) (six innings), graduate student right-hander Tanner Bird (Adams, Mass.) (two innings) and senior right-hander Ben Collincini (Freehold, N.J.) (one inning) combined to shut down the Hawks in the Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division contest at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 25-12 (15-6 NE10, 11-4 NE Div.), while Saint Anselm falls to 10-27 (5-17 NE10, 3-13 NE Div.). Win the victory, Franklin Pierce swept the three-game season series from Saint Anselm. The Hawks played as the home team on Wednesday, after the game was relocated due to an unplayable field at Saint Anselm.

The Ravens -- who are 18-6 since a 6-6 start -- have some work left to do over the regular season's final six games to solidify their spot in the upcoming NCAA Championship East Regional. Franklin Pierce was sixth in the first weekly NCAA East Region rankings, which were released on Wednesday afternoon. Seven teams will ultimately qualify for the tournament, with each of the region's three conference champions earning automatic bids, regardless of ranking.

The Ravens open a three-game divisional series at Bentley on Friday, April 28, at 3:30 p.m. at DeFelice Field in Waltham, Mass. Franklin Pierce will then travel to Southern New Hampshire and host Saint Michael's in a doubleheader next week, before heading into the Northeast-10 Championship the following week.

On Wednesday, Franklin Pierce got Lundin and company the only runs they would need with a pair in the top of the first inning. Freshman designated hitter Dylan Jones (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) opened the game by lining a single into left field and moved around to third two batters later, when junior third baseman John Friday (Southborough, Mass.) pulled a one-out double down the left-field line. After a walk to junior catcher Stephen Octave (New Windsor, N.Y.) loaded the bases, junior first baseman Dalton Davis (Birmingham, Ala.) picked up an RBI by plating Jones with a bouncer on the right side.

Saint Anselm senior first baseman Nick Bragole ranged far away from first base to try to track down the chopper. His only play would have been on Davis at first, but Bragole could not field cleanly, leaving everybody safe with one out on the error. DeDona followed and lifted a sacrifice fly to the left fielder in left-center to score Friday.

Another run in the top of the sixth pushed the lead out to 3-0. With one out and the bases empty, Davis surprised everybody by dropping a first-pitch bunt up the third-base line to reach with a bunt single. He moved to second on a DeDona groundout and then scored when senior second baseman Kyle Hood (Arlington, Mass.) lashed an RBI single into left field. Saint Anselm junior left fielder John Marculitis made a strong, though slightly off-target throw to the plate on the play, but Davis used a well-placed slide to the first-base side of the plate to beat the tag.

The Ravens plated three more runs in the top of the eighth to create the 6-0 final. Friday went the other way to open the inning with a single through the right side. Two batters later, Davis worked a seven-pitch walk to put runners at first and second for DeDona. DeDona got a 1-1 pitch to his liking, turned on it, drove it into the Rindge night down the right-field line and then flipped the bat aside in celebration as he headed for first base. DeDona's second home run of the season was estimated at 340 feet, and cleared the fence approximately 10 feet inside the right-field foul pole.

Meanwhile, Lundin, Bird and Collincini set about taking care of Saint Anselm on 124 combined pitches. Lundin (3-2) used 80 pitches (53 strikes) to toss six shutout innings. He allowed one hit, walked two, hit a batter and struck out three on the way to the win. Bird faced eight batters and piled up five strikeouts over two innings of work, while Collincini struck out the side on 14 pitches in the ninth to finish things off.

Junior right-hander Adam Krol (2-2) took the ball and tossed 125 pitches (83 strikes) over 7.1 innings on the hill for Saint Anselm. He allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits, walked two and struck out four while taking the loss.

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).