WALTHAM, Mass. (April 28, 2017) – Junior designated hitter Stephen Octave (New Windsor, N.Y.) and junior first baseman Dalton Davis (Birmingham, Ala.) provided the keynote addresses with lengthy home runs, overpowering even the deep dimensions of DeFelice Field on a warm Friday afternoon. The former pounded a fifth-inning grand slam, as the blasts led the Franklin Pierce University baseball team to a 9-1 road win over Bentley in Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division play. Junior right-hander John Amendola (Wallingford, Conn.) turned in eight scoreless innings on the mound in the victory.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 26-12 (16-6 NE10, 12-4 NE Div.), while Bentley falls to 9-24 (7-11 NE10, 7-7 NE Div.). The two teams will wrap up the three-game weekend series with a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at noon at DeFelice Field.

The first four innings went scoreless on Friday, before the Ravens opened the scoring in loud fashion with four runs in the top of the fifth. Junior center fielder Harrison Smoske (Burlington, Mass.) led off the inning with a single back through the middle, and junior right fielder Adam Chase (Bridgewater, Mass.) and junior third baseman John Friday (Southborough, Mass.) later took back-to-back walks to load the bases for Octave with two outs. The walks proved costly, as Octave got a 1-1 pitch over the middle of the plate and clubbed a long home run to the power alley in left-center field. The blast was his second grand slam of the season, as well as the third of his career, and was his fifth home run of the year.

Things got sloppy for Bentley in the top of the sixth, and Franklin Pierce took advantage to plate three more runs and push the lead out to 7-0. Graduate student left fielder Anthony DeDona (Bethpage, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch leading off and senior second baseman Kyle Hood (Arlington, Mass.) followed with a single to left field. With the ball in front of him, DeDona pushed the envelope on the play and was able to go first-to-third while drawing the throw, which allowed Hood to take second.

Smoske followed and cashed in both runs with a single back through the middle, and then things got ugly for the Falcons. Smoske took second on the throw to the plate by freshman center fielder Luke Figueira, but the throw was errant and skipped to the backstop, which allowed Smoske to move to third. Smoske broke for the plate on contact two batters later, as freshman catcher Dylan Jones (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) hit a bouncer to third. Junior third baseman Peter Bocchino came home with the ball and would have thrown out Smoske, except freshman catcher Christopher Butler failed to catch the throw and the ball got away, allowing Smoske to score.

A pair of runs in the top of the seventh pushed the lead as high as 9-0. If Octave's home run was long, then Davis' one-out solo home run in the seventh was a prodigious blast. He took a 1-0 pitch back up the middle of the field and drove a mammoth homer over the fence just to the left of straightaway center field. His team-leading sixth home run of the season appeared to easily clear 400 feet.

DeDona was next and was hit by a pitch again. He moved to second as Hood walked, and scored two batters later on an RBI single to left field by freshman shortstop Joe Napolitano (Port St. Lucie, Fla.).

Meanwhile, Amendola (5-3) took care of blanking Bentley through the game's first eight innings. He threw 92 pitches (70 strikes) without allowing a run, scattered nine hits, did not issue a walk, hit a batter and struck out six on the way to the win.

Bentley picked up its only run of the afternoon working against graduate student right-hander Jared Habershaw (Kingston, R.I.) in the bottom of the ninth inning. Figueira drove a double off the fence in left-center with one out, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by senior shortstop Justin Ashworth.

Senior right-hander Jack Burke (1-4) started and threw 111 pitches (68 strikes) over the first six innings on the mound for Bentley. He was ultimately charged with seven runs (six earned) on five hits, walked five, hit a batter and struck out six 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).