McGowan scatters seven hits over eight innings in second game

WALTHAM, Mass. (April 13, 2013) – Senior right fielder Nick LaCroix (Grafton, Mass.) went 3-for-5 with an RBI single, scored twice and stole a base in the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, to lead the No. 19/19 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University baseball team to an 8-2 win over Bentley in Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division play at DeFelice Field. In the first game of the day, Bentley senior right-hander JP Ashline spun a three-hit shutout with six strikeouts and faced just one over the minimum.

With the split, Franklin Pierce moves to 23-11 (13-2 Northeast-10, 6-2 Northeast Division), while Bentley moves to 15-15 (8-7 Northeast-10, 4-3 Northeast Division). The two teams will meet again at 1 p.m. on Sunday at DeFelice Field in the rubber game of the three-game season series.

The Franklin Pierce offense never so much as threatened to be a factor in the first game, as Ashline (4-1) needed just 89 pitches to mow through nine innings in a tidy two hours and five minutes for his first shutout of the season. He did not issue a walk, rolled up 13 ground-ball outs and faced just 28 batters. Of the three base hits he allowed, Ashline picked one off, one was thrown out trying to stretch the single to a double and the other was stranded at first base.

The Ravens lineup did itself no favors in the game, as over-eager bats made outs on the first pitch six times, and the second pitch six more, for a total of 12 outs -- or 44.4% of the outs in a game -- where Ashline needed two or fewer pitches. The impatience at the plate was no clearer than the top of the second inning, when the middle of the Franklin Pierce order was retired on just four pitches: a first-pitch infield pop-up, a second pitch fly ball to center and a first-pitch groundout. It was the first of five innings on the afternoon in which Ashline would throw 10 or fewer pitches.

If the issues with the opposing pitcher weren't enough, Franklin Pierce had alarming news from its own staff, as senior right-hander Ryan Thompson (Calgary, Alberta) faced two batters, allowed two hits and threw just three pitches before being removed with an apparent injury. Both men he faced would come around to score, and would be the only offense Bentley needed, which stuck Thompson with the loss (4-1). Junior right-hander Ryan Leach (Farmingdale, Maine) took over in essentially a spot-start situation and was dominant at times through 6.1 innings of work. He allowed four runs on 10 hits while throwing 108 pitches, did not issue a walk, hit a batter and struck out 11, one off his career high. Senior right-hander Vladimir Camacho (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) recorded the final five outs while allowing just one hit and striking out one.

Bentley took a lead it would never relinquish in the bottom of the first. Junior outfielder Sean Keady led-off with a single to center and freshman first baseman Evan Mondor followed with a single through the left side before Thompson departed the game. Senior second baseman Logan Gillis greeted Leach with an RBI single to center, scoring Keady, before Leach settled in to strikeout the next two. Junior shortstop Will Brennan came through with a two-out RBI to score Mondor, as he punched another single into center field.

Bentley picked up a run in the third and three in the seventh to create the 6-0 final. In the third, junior right fielder Tom Nagy opened the frame by driving a ball to straightaway center and over the head of the center fielder for a triple, and then scored on an RBI groundout by senior catcher Kevin Korwek. In the seventh, Bentley had five singles, though none were hit hard and three were of the infield variety. Korwek had a two-run single in the inning, while the remaining run scored on a balk.

The Franklin Pierce offense shook off the first-game effort with two runs in the top of the second inning of the second game. LaCroix lined a lead-off single to right and moved to second two batters later when Gillis booted a possible double-play ball hit by sophomore left fielder John Razzino (Cranston, R.I.). Sophomore third baseman Matt O'Herron (Springfield, Mass.) followed with an RBI single to center to score LaCroix and move Razzino to third. The latter would score from there on a delayed double steal in the first-and-third situation.

The Ravens broke the game open in the top of the sixth, when they sent 10 men to the plate and scored five runs on five hits and a pair of Bentley errors. After a lead-off double by senior shortstop Dan Kemp (Sturbridge, Mass.) which one-hopped the fence in left, junior first baseman Zach Mathieu (Derry, N.H.) reached on an error and LaCroix dropped down a bunt single to load the bases. A snake-bit sophomore designated hitter Matt Walsh (Plymouth, Mass.) lined into the first out of the inning, as he drilled a ball straight at the shortstop, bringing Razzino to the plate with the bases still full. The Franklin Pierce left fielder went the other way with the first pitch and clubbed a two-run double into the gap in right-center. O'Herron followed and kept the line moving by shooting a single into left-center to score both LaCroix and Razzino. O'Herron later came in to score on an error.

Franklin Pierce capped its scoring with a run in the top of the seventh. Mathieu clobbered the fourth pitch of the inning to straightaway center. What would have been a difficult play anyway turned impossible after Keady broke in on the ball, and it sailed well over his head for Mathieu's second triple of the season. He scored when LaCroix followed with an RBI single to center.

Bentley scored single runs in the seventh and eighth to create the 8-2 final. In the seventh, Korwek opened with a single to center, went to third on a double to right by Brennan and scored on a sacrifice fly to right by freshman designated hitter Bryan Rocha. The run in the eighth was unearned, as Keady led-off with an infield single, moved to second on a walk and tagged and went to third on a flyout to right field. Later, with two outs, O'Herron mishandled a groundball at third to allow the inning to continue and Keady to score from third.

Junior right-hander Kevin McGowan (Nashua, N.H.) took the ball in the second game for a Franklin Pierce team which needed an innings-eater after getting all 27 outs with the bullpen in the first game. McGowan was up to the task, as he logged eight innings, allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits, walked one and struck out five to pick up the win (4-0).

Senior right-hander Jeff Crouteau took the mound for Bentley in the second game. Over six innings, he allowed seven runs (four earned) on seven hits, did not issue a walk and struck out two on the way to the loss (5-3).

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).