RINDGE, N.H. (April 3, 2021) -- Freshly back into the top-25, the No. 23 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University baseball team did little to justify the ranking on Wednesday night, as the Ravens dropped a 9-4 decision to Saint Anselm in non-conference play at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field. The top six spots in the Franklin Pierce lineup combined to go 1-for-22 on the evening, while seven Ravens pitchers combined to issue seven walks in the loss. Junior Kyle Maurice went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run to lead the way for Saint Anselm.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce has its five-game winning streak snapped and falls to 9-3, while Saint Anselm improves to 6-7. It marked the first win for the Hawks over Franklin Pierce in more than seven years, since March 27, 2014, which was a wild, 11-10 affair at Pappas Field (recap). The Ravens had taken the last 17 meetings against Saint Anselm.

Saint Anselm ambushed sophomore right-hander Andres Auffant (Center Moriches, N.Y.) right out of the gate and jumped to an early 5-0 lead with two in the first and three in the third. In the first, junior Matt Collins reached on a one-out error by graduate student Tyler Patane (Lake Grove, N.Y.) at third. Two batters later, Maurice went the other way and hit a towering fly ball down the right-field line. The ball clanged off the right-field foul pole on its way down for Maurice's fifth home run of the season, which was estimated at 325 feet.

In the third, a double by sophomore Brady Doran and a single by Collins set the table for junior Mike Pierro, who socked a ball deep into the gap in left-center, which one-hopped over the fence for a ground-rule, two-run double. The double chased Auffant from the game after just 2.1 innings, in favor of senior right-hander Jack Wallace (Winthrop, Mass.), who immediately surrendered an RBI single back up the middle to Maurice, to cap the latter's three-RBI day.

Franklin Pierce would close the gap to 5-4, with a run in the third and three more in the fifth. In the home half of the third, junior Ryan Lavelle (East Longmeadow, Mass.) dumped a single into right-center and raced all the way around to score when junior Joel Lara (Boston, Mass.) followed and sliced a ball down the right-field line and into the corner for an RBI triple. Despite the struggles of the top six spots in the lineup, the bottom third went 6-for-9 and scored all four runs for the Ravens on Wednesday night.

In the fifth, graduate student James Boria (Massapequa, N.Y.) singled, Lavelle doubled into the gap in right-center, and Lara was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out for the top of the order. Junior Randy Flores (Brooklyn, N.Y.) lifted a sacrifice fly to left to drive home one. Senior catcher Dylan Jones (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) followed with an RBI single to center, the only hit of the night for the top two-thirds of the lineup. Lara would later score on a wild pitch, but Jones was stranded at third base as the potential tying run.

Franklin Pierce would record only two hits the rest of the way, while Saint Anselm added three insurance runs in the eighth, and one more in the ninth for good measure. In the eighth, all the damage came with two outs, as Doran drove a two-run double into the gap in right-center and Collins knocked an RBI single through the right side. In the ninth, senior Salvatore Pezzolla led off with a walk and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly to center by senior Max Silverman.

Auffant (1-1) started, went 2.1 innings, was charged with five runs (three earned) on four hits, struck out four and suffered the loss on the mound for the Ravens.

Freshman right-hander Matthew Michel (2-1) was good enough on the other side for Saint Anselm. He threw 92 pitches (59 strikes) over seven innings, allowed four runs on six hits, walked two, hit a batter and struck out seven to pick up the win.

The Ravens have the weekend off and are scheduled to return to action on Wednesday, April 14, when they make a return trip to Saint Anselm for a 3:30 p.m. start.