MANCHESTER, N.H. (May 2, 2017) – The Franklin Pierce University baseball team outhit No. 4/6 nationally ranked Southern New Hampshire on Tuesday night, 7-4, but it mattered not at Penmen Field, as the Penmen completed the sweep of the three-game regular-season series from the Ravens. Three walks led to three runs in the Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division contest for the Penmen, who posted a 3-1 win behind a complete-game, seven-hit effort from junior right-hander Mitchell Powers. Four Franklin Pierce pitchers combined to throw a four-hitter, but they also combined to issue five walks and hit two batters on the night.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 28-13 (18-7 NE10, 14-5 NE Div.), while Southern New Hampshire improves to 36-7 (22-2 NE10, 17-1 NE Div). It marked the first time either team had swept the regular-season series from the other since the NE10 went to three-game divisional series beginning in 2012. The last time either side swept a regular-season series from the other came in 2009, when SNHU took both meetings.

The loss also ensured Franklin Pierce's streak of Northeast Division titles will end at five. It will be the first time since the NE10 returned to divisional play in 2012 the Ravens have not finished with at least a share of the divisional crown. Franklin Pierce is already assured a spot in the NE10 Championship and will wrap up the regular season on Wednesday, when they return home to host Saint Michael's in a divisional doubleheader. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Pappas Field in Rindge.

Powers (4-2) took the ball in all three games against Franklin Pierce this spring and went the distance for the win on each occasion. On Tuesday night, he needed 110 pitches (77 strikes) to dispatch the Ravens, while scattering seven hits and surrendering one run. He did not issue a walk, threw one wild pitch and piled up 12 strikeouts, one shy of his season high.

The Penmen put Powers ahead to stay with an unearned run in the home half of the third inning. Senior catcher Cam Oliveira took a five-pitch walk leading off. Sophomore second baseman Kyle Ruth followed and laid down a sacrifice bunt, but reached at first on an error, as junior right-hander Mike Lundin (Kingston, Mass.) mishandled the ball near the first-base line. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third, freshman shortstop Tom Blandini hit a sharp ground ball straight at Franklin Pierce junior first baseman Dalton Davis (Birmingham, Ala.). Oliveira broke for the plate on contact, and Davis was prepared to come home with the ball, but did not field it cleanly. By the time he collected the ball, all he could do was retire Blandini at first, as the SNHU shortstop picked up an RBI groundout.

Franklin Pierce's best chance to do serious damage against Powers came in the top of the sixth inning, as the bottom of the order got something going. Junior center fielder Harrison Smoske (Burlington, Mass.) led off and laced a double into the gap in left-center field. Freshman shortstop Joe Napolitano (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) was next, dropped a bunt down on the left side of the infield and legged out a single to put runners at the corners with nobody out for the top of the order. However, freshman designated hitter Dylan Jones (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) -- who went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts -- struck out on three pitches and Chase bounced into a 4-6-3, inning-ending double play on the first pitch of his at-bat and the threat went by the boards.

The Penmen made the missed chance hurt even more in the bottom half of the sixth, as they got opportunistic and turned a pair of walks into a pair of runs. With one out, junior first baseman Ryan Sullivan worked a six-pitch walk, before junior right fielder Caleb Potter struck out on seven pitches for the second out. With Lundin at 90 pitches (57 strikes), the Ravens elected to turn the ball over to the bullpen, in the form of senior right-hander Ben Collincini (Freehold, N.J.).

Collincini walked the first man he faced, sophomore center fielder John Stanton, on seven pitches and then surrendered the game's pivotal hit. With Collincini one strike away from getting out of the inning, junior shortstop Kyle Pangallo turned on a 2-2 pitch and clubbed a two-run double which one-hopped to the fence just inside the foul pole in the left-field corner to open up the lead to 3-0.

The Ravens picked up their lone run in the top of the eighth to create the 3-1 final. Senior second baseman Kyle Hood (Arlington, Mass.) led off, lifted a fly ball to right field and wound up on second with a double as the entire right side of the SNHU defense lost the ball in the mix of the lights and the twilight overhead, which allowed the ball to fall untouched approximately 30 feet from the nearest fielder inside the right-field line. Two batters later, Napolitano lined a two-out single over the head of the third baseman and into left field to drive home Hood. After a wild pitch moved Napolitano to scoring position as well, Powers struck out Jones on five pitches to end the inning.

Facing the 2-3-4 hitters in the top of the ninth, Powers retired the side in order on 13 pitches, including two strikeouts, to finish things off.

Lundin (3-3) was a bit of a hard-luck loser on the mound for Franklin Pierce, as he allowed just one hit and struck out four over 5.2 innings of work. However, he also walked three, hit two batters and made a costly error. He was ultimately charged with two runs (one earned) on the night.

In an interesting turn of events, the only two players for either team with multiple hits on the night were Franklin Pierce's eighth and ninth hitters, Smoske and Napolitano, respectively.

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).