After dropping the front end, 4-2, Ravens come back with 3-1 win in game two

Boxscore Game One
Boxscore Game Two

LEOMINSTER, Mass. (April 8, 2008) – The Franklin Pierce University softball team earned a hard-fought split with American International College in a Northeast-10 Conference softball doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon at Lassie League Field. The Ravens dropped the first game, 4-2, before coming back in game two to win, 3-1, and earn the split.

Senior captain Kate Surgen (Southampton, Mass./Hampshire Regional) had three hits in six at-bats to lead the Ravens. Senior Nicole Leary (Hanover, Mass./Hanover) had two runs batted in and scored a run, while sophomore Kristen Tracy (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Walter Panas) had an RBI and a run scored.

Senior Tara DeMontier (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) went 3-for-6 with two runs scored for the Yellow Jackets, while junior Deanna Zanetti (Hampden, Mass./Minneshaug) went 2-for-6 with two RBI and a run scored and sophomore Katie Ellie (Worcester, Mass./Burncoat) added two RBI on two hits.


American International 4, Franklin Pierce 2

In the first game of the afternoon, the Yellow Jackets scored twice in the third and fifth innings to hold off Franklin Pierce and win, 4-2.

DeMontier went 3-for-3 and scored twice for American International in the game, while Zanetti and Ellie each had two hits and drove in a pair. Seven Franklin Pierce hitters recorded one hit apiece, with Leary and freshman Emily Griffin (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) each driving in one run.

The Ravens jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, as a bunt single by Leary scored junior Stephanie Howard (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk), but AIC scored twice in the next half-inning thanks to a two-run, two-out double from Ellie to take the lead after three.

Franklin Pierce fought back to tie the game in the fourth, with Leary scoring on an RBI double from Griffin, but the Yellow Jackets again scored twice in their next at-bat to regain the lead. DeMontier and Zanetti hit back-to-back triples to put the visitors back up by a run, and Zanetti scored on the same play after an error by junior centerfielder Jackie Prybella (Marshfield, Mass./ Marshfield).

Senior Megan Nickerson (Greenfield, Mass./Greenfield) came on in relief of junior Sara Puglisi (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) in the bottom of the fourth inning and scattered three hits and gave up one run in four innings of work to pick up the win (2-1). Franklin Pierce freshman Kayla Johnson (Hudson, N.H./Alvirne) threw a complete game for the Ravens, giving up four earned runs on nine hits, walking four and striking out three.


Franklin Pierce 3, American International 1

Junior righthander Courtney Jacobs (Fitchburg, Mass./Fitchburg) picked the Ravens up in the nightcap, giving up only three hits and one run in seven innings as Franklin Pierce earned a split with a 3-1 win.

Jacobs (1-8) earned her first win of the year with a gritty complete-game effort, setting a new season high with 10 strikeouts. The junior gave up one run and walked six in the first three innings of work, but recovered to strike out six and scatter only two hits without walking a batter in the final four innings to keep the Ravens in the game and eventually earn the win.

AIC got on the board first in the opening inning, as Michelle Franey (Abington, Mass./ Abington) scored on a passed ball, but the Ravens scored the final three runs of the game to take the win. Franklin Pierce evened the game at one in the third inning, as sophomore Kiley Molinari (Meriden, Conn./Maloney) led off the frame with a triple and scored on an RBI ground out by Leary.

Headed into the bottom of the sixth knotted at one, the Ravens broke through with a pair of runs against Sara Swepston (Dallas, Pa./Dallas) (4-6). Prybella began the rally with a leadoff single, then circled the bases on an RBI double by Tracy to score the game-winning run. Surgen followed with a single to right to score Tracy with an insurance run.

After a runner reached base to begin the seventh inning, Jacobs punctuated her outing with a pair of strikeouts, both swinging, to shut the door on the Yellow Jackets.

Franklin Pierce (3-19, 2-8 NE-10) will continue play at Lassie League Field on Thursday, when the Ravens host preseason NFCA No. 18 Adelphi University for a non-conference doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. American International (11-14, 2-8 NE-10) travels to the College of Saint Rose for a pair of games with the Golden Knights tomorrow at 5 p.m.