RINDGE, N.H. (April 24, 2021) -- In what has become a bit of a theme this spring, the Franklin Pierce University baseball team failed to get the job done in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday, but bounced back to take the second. In the front end of the Northeast-10 Conference twinbill at Pappas Field, visiting Stonehill hammered out 15 hits, including six for extra bases, in a 12-9 win. In the second game, four Ravens hit home runs, while graduate student right-hander Seb Gruszecki (Dudley, Mass.) struck out eight and went the distance in a 9-4 Franklin Pierce win.

With the split, Franklin Pierce now stands at 10-4 (7-3 NE10), while Stonehill moves to 11-10 (6-8 NE10). The two teams will meet again on Sunday at 2 p.m., for two more games at Pappas Field, to wrap up the four-game series.

Game 1: Stonehill 12, Franklin Pierce 9

Franklin Pierce struck first in the front end of the doubleheader, as junior Randy Flores (Brooklyn, N.Y.) walked, stole second, stole third and scored on a wild pitch to open the ball game. It was the only lead the Ravens would hold in the contest.

Stonehill took control with one in the third, two in the fourth and two more in the fifth, to take a 5-1 lead. In the third, sophomore Edward Beauregard Jr. doubled to right field and later scored on an RBI single to left by sophomore Conor Kiely. In the fourth, senior Rob Duarte walked with two outs and then freshman Graham Herrick went the other way and drove his second home run of the season an estimated 375 feet to left-center. In the fifth, sophomore Blaine Lidsky provided an RBI single to right-center and junior Noah Lucier lifted a sacrifice fly to right.

After Franklin Pierce got a run in the fifth as well, on a sacrifice fly by Flores, Stonehill added four more in the top of the sixth to break things wide open, at 9-2. Beauregard provided a big fly, as he went just to the right of center field for a two-run bomb of an estimated 395 feet. Senior John Orzechowski had an RBI double in the inning as well, and later scored on a wild pitch.

Franklin Pierce trimmed the lead all the way down to 9-7 with five runs in the home half of the sixth. Senior Dylan Jones (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) pulled an RBI single into left field and later scored on a wild pitch, which came after senior Jonel Ozuna (New York, N.Y.) had scored on a balk. Sophomore Ian Battipaglia (Cheshire, Conn.) capped the inning as he got a ball up into the wind and pushed a two-run home run an estimated 335 feet down the right-field line.

An RBI single by Lidsky in the eighth and a two-run triple by sophomore Mike Maher in the ninth provided Stonehill some important insurance. Franklin Pierce got two in the last of the ninth, on an RBI groundout by Ozuna and an RBI single by Jones, but could get no closer.

Graduate student left-hander Shawn Babineau (Ashland, Mass.) went five innings and suffered the loss (1-1) for Franklin Pierce. He allowed five runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out five.

Junior right-hander Luke Marshall (1-2) went 5.2 innings on the hill for Stonehill. He was charged with six runs on five hits, but still picked up the win. Marshall walked three and struck out nine.

Game 2: Franklin Pierce 9, Stonehill 4

It was long balls galore for the Ravens in the second game, and it started right away in the bottom of the first. Flores led off, went the other way and knocked his second home run of the season an estimated 340 feet to right field. Ozuna knocked an RBI single back up the middle and then came around to score when Jones fired a two-run laser an estimated 365 feet and into the parking lot behind the left-field fence to give Franklin Pierce a 4-0 lead.

Stonehill got three in the top of the third, on a three-run blast from Orzechowski, which traveled an estimated 385 feet into the power alley in right-center. Franklin Pierce immediately pushed the lead back out to 7-3 with three of its own in the home half of the inning. Jones went the other way for an RBI double to right-center, and then graduate student James Boria (Massapequa, N.Y.) launched a two-run homer an estimated 385 feet to left-center, his second of the season.

The Ravens added single insurance runs in the fourth and the fifth. In the fourth, Flores singled, stole second and scored on a double down the right-field line by junior Joel Lara (Boston, Mass.). In the fifth, Ozuna displayed some light-tower power, quite literally, as he turned on a pitch and watched it clang high off the right-field light pole, for a solo blast of an estimated 390 feet to straightaway right.

Stonehill got a run in the seventh on an RBI single by Kiely, but Gruszecki eventually finished off the 9-4 victory.

Gruszecki (3-0) went the distance on 97 pitches (69 strikes) in the seven-inning affair. He allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits, did not issue a walk and struck out eight.

Senior right-hander Michael White (1-2) needed 93 pitches (69 strikes) to get through five innings for Stonehill. He was ambushed for nine runs (eight earned) on nine hits and struck out six.