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O’Rourke, Longballs Lead Baseball Over Lynn, 12-5

O’Rourke, Longballs Lead Baseball Over Lynn, 12-5

O'Herron slugs fifth-inning grand slam

Mathieu Mathieu hit two home runs at Lynn on Tuesday and now has four in the last three games.

BOCA RATON, Fla. (March19, 2013) – Sophomore right-hander Brendan O'Rourke (Shrewsbury, Mass.) was masterful over the first five innings on Tuesday afternoon, while his offense built what proved to be an insurmountable lead as the Franklin Pierce University baseball team picked up a 12-5 win on the road against Lynn in non-conference play at Lynn Baseball Field. By the end of the day, the Franklin Pierce lineup had clubbed four home runs in a 16-hit attack.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 10-8 (0-0 Northeast-10), while Lynn falls to 16-9 (2-1 Sunshine State). It marked the second win for the Ravens in the last three meetings between the two clubs, after they lost the first of four against the Fighting Knights. The two teams have played annually since 2007.

The Ravens opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning. Junior catcher Marty Dunlap (Dorchester, Mass.) led off with a single back through the middle, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. After back-to-back strikeouts, sophomore third baseman Matt O'Herron (Springfield, Mass.) and freshman second baseman Rich Patrizio (East Northport, N.Y.) worked consecutive walks to load the bases for junior center fielder Calvin Graves (Boston, Mass.). Graves dumped a two-out, two-run single into right-center drive home Dunlap and O'Herron.

Franklin Pierce pushed the lead to 3-0 with a run in the top of the third. Junior first baseman Zach Mathieu (Derry, N.H.) opened the frame with a solo home run to right field, his third of the season and third in as many days.

Four runs in the top of the fifth broke the game open for the Ravens and stretched the lead to 7-0. Mathieu led-off the inning again and reached on an error by Lynn junior shortstop Alex Freedman. Senior right fielder Nick LaCroix (Grafton, Mass.) followed with a walk to push Mathieu to second and, three batters later, an infield single on the left side by freshman shortstop Justin Brock (Latham, N.Y.) loaded the bases. That brought O'Herron to the plate, and he launched his first career home run, a grand slam to left field.

Meanwhile, O'Rourke set about completely neutralizing the Lynn offense through the first five innings. He allowed a pair of one-out singles in the first, but stranded both runners and did not allow another hit until the sixth. In all, in his first start as a Raven, he tossed seven-plus innings, allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits, walked two and struck out six to pick up his first career win (1-0).

Franklin Pierce built the lead as high as 9-0 with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth. Graves started things with a single to left and scored two batters later on Mathieu's second home run of the afternoon, this one a two-run shot to left field.

Lynn got on the board with two runs in the home half of the sixth to cut the gap to 9-2. Junior center fielder Enrique Perez worked a lead-off walk and moved to second when Freedman followed with a single to right field. Two batters later, Perez scored and Freedman moved to third on an RBI double into the gap in right-center by senior first baseman Jason Matusik. Freedman would then score on a sacrifice fly to center by senior left fielder Paul Stortini.

The Ravens pushed the lead back to eight runs at 10-2 with a run in the top of the seventh. Junior pinch hitter Ross Lincoln (Woodstock, Conn.) led off with a single through the right side, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, took third on a groundout and scored when Patrizio reached on another error by Freedman at short.

Lynn picked up another run in the bottom of the seventh to make it 10-3. With one out, junior third baseman Sal Giardina, Jr. lifted a solo home run to left field, his team-leading third of the season.

Franklin Pierce answered again, this time with two runs in the top of the eighth, to extend the lead back to 12-3. With one out, Mathieu singled back up the middle and LaCroix followed with a two-run home run to left field, his third of the season.

Lynn picked up two runs in the home half of the eighth to create the 12-5 final. Back-to-back pinch hitters got on base to start the inning, as junior Joseph Anzeveno worked a walk and sophomore Danny Carroll singled to left, which finally chased O'Rourke from the game in favor of junior right-hander Ryan Leach (Farmingdale, Maine). Leach was greeted rudely, by a double down the left-field line by Matusik, which scored Anzeveno and moved Carroll around to third. Carroll would later score on a passed ball.

Junior left-hander Troy Mannebach got the start for Lynn, but failed to make it out of the fourth inning. He allowed three runs on six hits, walked three and struck out four over 3.1 innings while taking the loss (0-1).

The Ravens return to the field on Wednesday, March 20, when they travel to Tampa for a non-conference contest. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. at University of Tampa Baseball Field in Tampa, Fla.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce baseball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).