RINDGE, N.H. (May 11, 2021) -- The Franklin Pierce University baseball team took care of things with relative ease on Tuesday night in the first round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship. The Ravens hammered out 17 hits, including a trio of home runs, and coasted to an 18-1 victory over visiting Saint Michael's at Pappas Field. Graduate student James Boria (Massapequa, N.Y.) went 4-for-6 with a double and a pair of home runs as Franklin Pierce opened defense of its 2019 NE10 title.

With the win, Franklin Pierce, the Northeast Division's second seed, improves to 20-7, has won five in a row for the third time this year and has won 20 games for the 21^st straight season, excepting 2020's pandemic-shortened campaign. With the loss, seventh-seeded Saint Michael's sees its season come to a close at 1-23.

The Ravens will advance to Thursday's Northeast Division semifinal, and will host third-seeded Bentley, which took a wild, 15-13 affair at home against sixth-seeded Saint Anselm on Tuesday. Thursday's first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Pappas Field.

As had been the case in each of the previous four meetings with Saint Michael's this spring, it was offense early and offense often for Franklin Pierce on Tuesday. The Ravens were held scoreless in the first, but then piled up six runs in the second and seven more in the third to take the drama out of things early.

Sophomore Ian Battipaglia (Cheshire, Conn.) hit an RBI triple in each big inning, while Boria and senior Dylan Jones (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) each hit home runs in the third. Boria's fourth of the season was a two-run shot of an estimated 390 feet to deep left-center. Later in the frame, Jones went even deeper to left-center, as his seventh of the season was a three-run shot estimated at 395 feet.

Boria would club his second of the game in the bottom of the fourth. The leadoff shot went to left-center as well, and traveled an estimated 375 feet. Boria would add a run-scoring, ground-rule double in the fifth to cap his four-RBI day, during which he scored four times as well.

It all, it was six in the second, seven in the third, two in the fourth and three in the fifth for the Ravens, who won going away. Saint Michael's scored its lone run of the game in the top of the ninth, when a leadoff walk eventually came around to score on an RBI single back through the middle by freshman Mason Dushney.

Sophomore right-hander Andres Auffant (Center Moriches, N.Y.) started and threw 91 pitches (61 strikes) over six scoreless innings for the Ravens. He allowed three hits, walked two and struck out a career-best nine to pick up the win (5-1).

Senior Dante Moran (0-2) was the first of five pitchers on the night for Saint Michael's. He surrendered six runs on four hits over the first two innings, walked four, threw four wild pitches and struck out four. Saint Michael's pitching walked 11 and uncorked seven wild pitches over the course of the game.