Melissa Morgan smacks three-run homer in game two

RINDGE, N.H. (April 17, 2014) – The Franklin Pierce University softball team made it three wins in a row Thursday afternoon with an outstanding doubleheader sweep of first-place Stonehill at the Melissa Bisaccia Memorial Softball Complex in Rindge, N.H. The Ravens rallied for an 8-7 win in eight innings in game one, and then exploded for a 14-8 win in game two.

Franklin Pierce improved to 7-17 overall and 6-11 in the Northeast-10 (4-9 Northeast Division), while the Skyhawks had their five-game winning streak snapped in falling to 18-16 and 13-7 in league play (10-4 NE Division).

The Ravens found themselves trailing 5-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning in game one, but scored a run in the frame, then two in the sixth, three in the seventh, and one in the eighth to pull off the come-from-behind triumph.

Erin Wood (Dover, N.Y.) highlighted the sixth inning with a massive two-run homer, scoring Courtney Caputo (Stony Brook, N.Y.) on the play. Caputo singled in a run in the seventh, while Wood followed with an RBI as well, while another Ravens’ run came on a Stonehill error.

Melissa Morgan (Clifton Park, N.Y.) drove in Jamie Wiley (Cape Vincent, N.Y.) with a base hit in the eighth to lift the Ravens to victory. Tricia Hansen (Mansfield, Mass.) came on in relief and pitched a scoreless two innings to earn the win. She allowed just one hit and struck out four. Not to be outdone offensively, Hansen also smacked a solo homer in the fourth inning.

Morgan went 3-for-4 at the dish with a double, two runs driven in, and a run scored. Hansen, Caputo, Wood, and Sydney Despres (Sterling, Mass.) each collected a pair of hits.

The momentum from game one did not carry over into game two right away, as Stonehill scored three times in the first and twice in the second to open up a 5-0 lead.

However, Wiley’s leadoff homer in the bottom of the second kick-started the Ravens and they would not look back from there. Caputo, who had a new school-record seven RBI in game two alone, drove in the first two with a base hit after Wiley’s jack.

Franklin Pierce tacked on three more in the third on one swing of the bat, as Morgan ripped a three-run shot to left field, scoring Wiley and Ashley Noke (Cumberland, R.I.) on the play. The Ravens kept piling it on in the fifth with four more runs, including two from Megan Gardiner (Vernon, Conn.) on a single, and a two-run blast from Caputo. The homer for Caputo was her sixth of the season, thus setting a new program record for most home runs in a single campaign.

Caputo capped her amazing night with a three-run double in the sixth. Wiley, Morgan, and Mikaela Ballmer (Birdsboro, Pa.) each had two hits in game two. Gardiner reached base all four times she stepped to the plate. In addition to her base knock, she was also hit by a pitch three times, while also scoring three times in the nightcap.

Hansen once again earned the win in the pitching circle by going the distance, yielding just four earned runs on 12 hits with five strikeouts and no walks.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens play host to Stonehill in another doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. at the Bisaccia Softball Complex.

For more information on Franklin Pierce softball, please visit the team’s page at http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu. To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce softball apparel can do so on the athletic department’s online store at http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)