Purple Knights take first game, 12-1, but Ravens come back for 9-1 game-two win

Boxscore Game One
Boxscore Game Two

RINDGE, N.H. (April 30, 2008) - The Franklin Pierce University softball team completed its 2008 season with a Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader split against Saint Michael's College on a blustery Senior Day at the Franklin Pierce Softball Field. The Purple Knights used a 10-run sixth inning to earn a 12-1 win in six innings in the first game, but the Ravens came back with a 9-1, five-inning victory in the nightcap.

Senior captain Kate Surgen (Southampton, Mass./Hampshire Regional) led the Ravens on Senior Day with three hits in five at-bats, two runs batted in and two runs scored. By playing in both games today, Surgen set a new program record with 152 career games played. Junior Stephanie Howard (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) also went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, while junior Elaine Matthews (Roslindale, Mass./Archbishop Williams) had two hits, drove in a run and scored three times.

Junior Ashley Harkins (Colchester, Vt./Colchester) paced the Saint Michael's attack with a 3-for-6 showing with four RBI and two runs scored, while freshmen Meghan Colitti (Dover, N.H./ Berwick Academy) and Kristen Haungs (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) each went 2-for-4 with two RBI and at least one run scored.

Saint Michael's 12, Franklin Pierce 1 (Game One)

Saint Michael's blew open a close game in the front end of the doubleheader with a 10-run sixth inning to take a 12-1 win in six innings.

Junior Megan O'Connor (Georgetown, Mass./Georgetown) was the beneficiary of the late run support, earning the win (6-15). O'Connor scattered eight hits and struck out six, all coming in the first three frames, in six innings of work.

Senior Becky Aalto (Hubbardston, Mass./Gardner) got the start on Senior Day for Franklin Pierce and pitched well for five innings before being hit hard in the sixth. Aalto (0-4) was charged with nine runs (five earned) on eight hits in 5.1 innings, despite giving up just two runs and four hits through five frames.

Surgen and sophomore Kristen Tracy (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Walter Panas) each went 2-for-3 in the game for the Ravens, while Billings went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored and Colitti added two hits, two RBI and scored twice.

Saint Michael's sent 13 batters to the plate and scored 10 times in the sixth inning to break open a 2-1 game. O'Connor began the rally with an RBI single to tie the game at two, and Colitti followed later with a two-run double to center to make the score 5-2. Harkins, in her second at-bat of the inning, allowed the game to end early by clearing the bases with a triple to right field, scoring three runs and giving the Purple Knights an 11-1 edge.

Franklin Pierce held a 1-0 lead after two innings of play, as senior Lauren Bentson (Jamaica Plain, Mass./Fontbonne Academy) flared a single to right with the bases loaded to score Surgen for the game's first run. The Ravens could not get another run across the plate despite having the bases loaded with one out, however, and Saint Michael's responded with the final 12 runs of the afternoon.

Franklin Pierce 9, Saint Michael's 1 (Game Two)

The Franklin Pierce offense capitalized on six Purple Knights errors in the second game of the day, scoring three times in the first inning and cruising to a 9-1 win in five innings.

Matthews led the home team with a 2-for-3 effort, scoring three times and driving in one, while Surgen and Howard each went 1-for-2 and drove in two runs.

Junior Courtney Jacobs (Fitchburg, Mass./Fitchburg) picked up her fifth win of the season (5-13) for Franklin Pierce, giving up only one earned run on seven hits in five innings. O'Connor gave up eight runs in 3.1 innings to take the loss (6-16) in her second start of the day, despite only one of the runs being earned.

Franklin Pierce wasted little time in getting on the board in the first inning, as the Ravens scored three unearned runs without the benefit of a hit. Freshman Emily Griffin (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) led off by reaching on an error by the shortstop Harkins, and came around to score on a hit batter and a throwing error by Harkins on a fielder's choice attempt. Junior Jackie Prybella (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield), who was hit by a pitch, scored from third on an illegal pitch by O'Connor, and Surgen knocked in the third run of the frame on a sacrifice fly that was subsequently dropped by the right fielder.

After a pair of runs in the third inning on an error and a single by Howard, Franklin Pierce scored four times in the bottom of the fourth inning to invoke the mercy rule. Matthews got the team started with an RBI single through the right side, while Surgen and Howard also knocked in runs with a single and a sacrifice fly, respectively.

Down by eight runs, Saint Michael's threatened to extend the game by nearly mounting a two-out rally in the top of the fifth. After Jacobs got two of the first three batters to pop out, a hit batter put a runner in scoring position and Harkins followed with a single to center, but a perfect relay from Prybella to Matthews to Surgen cut down Haungs at the plate to prevent the score and end the game.

With the win, Franklin Pierce completes its 2008 season with a 9-33 record, including an 8-20 mark in the Northeast-10. Saint Michael's also sees its season come to a close with an 8-29 overall record and a 2-26 conference mark.