Camacho fires four scoreless innings of relief

WALTHAM, Mass. (April 14, 2013) – Junior designated hitter Marty Dunlap (Dorchester, Mass.) went 2-for-3 with a double and a single on Sunday afternoon, but was left on base both times, as the No. 19/19 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University baseball team was defeated by Bentley, 5-1, in Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division play at DeFelice Field. Senior right-hander John Yohe threw the second complete game of the three-game series, as he tossed a six-hitter for Bentley in the win.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 23-12 (13-3 Northeast-10, 6-3 Northeast Division), while Bentley improves to 16-15 (9-7 Northeast-10, 5-3 Northeast Division). The win, combined with Saturday's doubleheader split, allowed Bentley to take two of the three games in the weekend series.

Sophomore right-hander Brendan O'Rourke (Shrewsbury, Mass.) took the mound for the bottom of the first after the Ravens left a runner at third in the top half of the inning, but he would not finish the opening frame on the hill. In all, he faced seven batters, but recorded only two outs and was charged with a pair of runs, though both were unearned. O'Rourke allowed no hits, but walked four (one intentionally) and threw a wild pitch while striking out two. He was ultimately credited with the loss (3-1), as the Franklin Pierce offense would never dig out of the early hole.

As the unearned runs imply, the Franklin Pierce defense did O'Rourke no favors in the field, allowing the home nine's first batter to reach on an error as Bentley made its way to a pair of unearned runs in the first. Junior center fielder Sean Keady lifted the second pitch he saw to shallow right field, near the foul line in back of first base. Franklin Pierce freshman second baseman Justin Brock (Latham, N.Y.) came a long distance to get to the ball, but then appeared to settle under it with plenty of time to make a play. However, he appeared to misjudge the effect of wind and spin on the ball, as it drifted back towards right-center, tipped off his glove and fell to the ground, allowing Keady to reach at second.

Defensive miscues aside, O'Rourke did little to minimize the damage, as he walked the next two batters to load the bases before uncorking a wild pitch to plate the game's first run. He struck out each of the next two batters, and then the Franklin Pierce dugout called for an intentional walk to re-load the bases and set up a force play at any base. The free pass also set up a righty-righty matchup for O'Rourke against junior third baseman, Nate Witkowski, but O'Rourke could not capitalize. He issued a four-pitch walk which forced home the inning's second run and spelled the end of the short outing for O'Rourke. He was lifted in favor of sophomore right-hander Doug Willey (Shelburne, N.H.), who induced a groundball with the fourth pitch he threw for an inning-ending fielder's choice.

Bentley continued to capitalize on defensive mistakes in the bottom of the second, when the Falcons added another unearned run to push the lead to 3-0. With two outs and the bases empty, freshman first baseman Evan Mondor was hit by a pitch and then stole second. The next batter was senior second baseman Logan Gillis, who hit what could have been an inning-ending groundball to third base, but the ball went between the legs of Franklin Pierce sophomore third baseman Matt O'Herron (Springfield, Mass.) and into left field, allowing Mondor to score from second.

Franklin Pierce got its only run of the day in the top of the fourth to cut the deficit to 3-1. Junior first baseman Zach Mathieu (Derry, N.H.) took four straight balls leading off for a walk, then moved to second when senior right fielder Nick LaCroix (Grafton, Mass.) was hit by a pitch. After a groundout on the right side advanced both runners, sophomore left fielder John Razzino (Cranston, R.I.) knocked a sacrifice fly to deep center field to score Mathieu.

Bentley answered with two in the home half of the fourth to create the 5-1 final. Freshman designated hitter Bryan Rocha opened the inning with a single back up the middle and moved to second two batters later when Keady knocked a single into center field. Another two batters later, Gillis hit a single through the middle to drive home Rocha, and Bentley would pick up a second run on the play as well. Keady went first-to-third on the single, as the Franklin Pierce offense got the ball back in quickly with an eye towards throwing out Rocha at the plate. The throw home was cutoff, which allowed the defense to catch Gillis between first and second, as he had planned on moving to second on the throw to the plate. However, the rundown took far too long, as the Ravens needed three throws to put out Gillis, which allowed Keady to score from third before the tag.

Franklin Pierce turned to senior right-hander Vladimir Camacho (Jamaica Plain, N.Y.) to start the fifth, and he had his second solid outing in as many days. He held Bentley at bay for the remainder of the afternoon, as he threw four shutout innings, allowed two hits, did not issue a walk and struck out three.

However, the Raven lineup was never able to mount a rally against Yohe, who wound up going the distance on 121 pitches. After the blip on the radar when Franklin Pierce scored in the fourth, Yohe scattered four hits over the final five innings and allowed only one further runner to reach scoring position: a leadoff double in the ninth, which he stranded at second. In all, Yohe allowed one run on six hits, walked two, hit a batter and struck out four to pick up the win (2-4).

The Ravens return to the field on Tuesday, April 16, when they return home to open a six-game homestand by hosting Saint Anselm in a Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division contest. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field in Rindge.

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).