Walsh, Dunlap, Razzino record two-out RBIs in first inning

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (April 27, 2013) – A four-run top of the first and an 11-strikeout, five-hit complete game from junior right-hander Trevor Graham (Sebastian, Fla.) on Saturday afternoon paved the road to a 4-1 victory for the No. 20/23 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University baseball team over Merrimack on the road at Warrior Baseball Diamond in Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division play. Sophomore right-hander Joe Carnevale countered with a complete-game seven-hitter and struck out six in the loss for Merrimack.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 28-13 (18-4 Northeast-10, 11-4 Northeast Division), while Merrimack falls to 21-16 (12-11 Northeast-10, 7-8 Northeast Division). The two teams will conclude their three-game weekend series with a noon doubleheader on Sunday, April 28 at Warrior Baseball Diamond. Franklin Pierce remains tied in the loss column atop the Northeast Division standings with Bentley, which has already swept three games at home against Saint Michael's this weekend.

Graham, who has thrown at least seven innings in each of his last six starts, used 131 pitches to fire his first nine-inning complete game of the season. Along the way, he allowed one run on five hits, walked one, threw a wild pitch and struck out 11 to pick up the win (7-1). Only one of the five hits went for extra bases, and it was the fourth double-digit strikeout effort of the season for Graham.

After a brief hiccup allowed Merrimack to score its lone run in the third, Graham allowed only two runners to reach base the rest of the way, as he retired 16 of the final 18 batters he faced. In the fifth, he got a strikeout to strand a runner at third, and he was visibly emotional coming off the mound after getting a comebacker to end the bottom of the eighth with a runner stranded at second. Having thrown 109 pitches through eight innings, Graham was allowed to finish what he started. Despite being worked to three full counts, he got the side in order in the ninth on two groundouts and a strikeout.

Meanwhile, Carnevale settled in after a rough first inning to keep Merrimack in shouting distance the rest of the way. He also allowed only one extra-base hit, while giving up four runs on seven hits, walking one, striking out six and throwing 121 pitches in the complete-game loss (4-3). After the four-hit, four-run first, Carnevale allowed only three more hits and did not allow a runner past first base the rest of the way.

All the game's scoring came in the first three innings, highlighted by a four-run top of the first inning for Franklin Pierce, which sent eight men to the plate in the frame. Junior left fielder Calvin Graves (Boston, Mass.) opened the game with a single back up the middle and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt in front of junior first baseman Zach Mathieu (Derry, N.H.), who worked a seven-pitch walk. Two batters later, sophomore catcher Matt Walsh (Plymouth, Mass.) had the first of three straight two-out RBI hits, when he pulled a single inside the bag at third and down the left-field line to drive home Graves. Mathieu went first-to-third on the play and would score as well when Merrimack freshman shortstop Mike Forgione threw away the relay throw to third.

The error allowed Walsh to move to second, and he would score from there when junior designated hitter Marty Dunlap (Dorchester, Mass.) broke his bat and lifted a ball the other way which dropped on the right-field line for an RBI single. Dunlap stole second and scored when sophomore center fielder John Razzino (Cranston, R.I.) wound up with an RBI double on a short fly ball to shallow left-center, which Merrimack senior left fielder Casey Cotter could not quite get to on a diving attempt.

Merrimack got its run in the bottom of the third to ultimately create the 4-1 final. Freshman center fielder Bobby Losanno opened the inning with a double into the gap in right-center. Cotter was next and hit a ground ball to second which took a high hop that freshman second baseman Justin Brock (Latham, N.Y.) got a glove on but could not corral. The ball got by him into right field as Losanno came home to score on the error.

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).