Graham named tournament's Most Outstanding Player

"On the Road with the Ravens" Blog: Highlights/Postgame Celebration

MANCHESTER, N.H. (May 19, 2013) – A four-pitch strikeout of Mike Annone by junior right-hander Joe Flynn (Plymouth, Mass.) sent the sixth-seeded Franklin Pierce University baseball team pouring out of the dugout at Penmen Field on Sunday afternoon. The looking strikeout finished off a 5-1 victory over top seed Wilmington (Del.) in the championship game of the NCAA Championship East Regional, hosted by Southern New Hampshire, as Franklin Pierce punched its ticket to Cary, N.C. and the National Finals. Junior right-hander Ryan Leach (Farmingdale, Maine) fired six innings of three-hit ball without allowing an earned run to make sure Franklin Pierce left Manchester with the trophy in tow.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 36-17 and lays claim to the sixth NCAA Regional title in program history (2010, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2003). The Ravens will meet Atlantic Regional champion Shippensburg at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 25 to open the NCAA Championship National Finals at USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. The Ravens are three-time national semifinalists (2010, 2006, 2003).

With the loss, Wilmington concludes its season at 43-14.

At the conclusion of the tournament, junior right-hander Trevor Graham (Sebastian, Fla.), junior first baseman Zach Mathieu (Derry, N.H.) and sophomore third baseman Matt O'Herron (Springfield, Mass.) were all named to the East Regional All-Championship Team. Graham, who authored a three-hit shutout with 10 punchouts on Thursday against Wilmington and recorded the final out of Saturday night's 13-inning win over SNHU, was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

The drama started early on Saturday, as junior right-hander Kevin McGowan (Nashua, N.H.) took the ball to start the game for the Ravens, only a shade over 26 hours removed from the final pitch of his complete-game effort on Saturday afternoon against Pace. He logged two shutout innings on Sunday, allowed only one hit, did not issue a walk and struck out two.

Senior right-hander David Hatt started on the mound for Wilmington on just two days' rest, as he went seven innings and threw 109 pitches in a loss to Franklin Pierce in Thursday's regional opener. On Sunday, Hatt threw the first three innings without allowing a run, gave up two hits and struck out two.

From there, Leach stole the show, as he worked the next six-plus innings just two days after throwing 3.1 innings in relief on Friday against New Haven. On Sunday, Leach took over to start the third and allowed only three hits before leaving after issuing a lead-off walk in the ninth, his only walk of the game. He was touched for just an unearned run in the seventh, struck out three and hit three batters while picking up the win (6-4).

Flynn came on with the runner on first after the lead-off walk in the ninth and retired all three batters he faced. After getting a flyball out to start his outing, Flynn threw a wild pitch, and then the baserunner stole third, before a lineout for the second out. This brought Annone, Wilmington's freshman second baseman, to the plate holding the 27th and final out. Flynn got a called strike on the first pitch of the at-bat and a swing-through on the second before Annone fouled off a breaking ball to keep the game alive. Flynn's next move was to blaze a fastball down at the knees which locked Annone up. Home plate umpire and crew chief Rick Cacciatore rang up strike three and the Ravens mobbed Flynn in front of the mound.

Franklin Pierce plated its first two runs in support of Leach in the bottom of the fourth inning against junior right-hander Tim Racek, who would pitch the fourth and to one batter in the fifth while taking the loss (1-1) for Wilmington. Racek's first two pitches were balls to senior shortstop Dan Kemp (Sturbridge, Mass.), who turned on the third pitch and ripped the ball into the left-field corner for a lead-off double. He would move to third when Mathieu followed and dumped a single into right-center. Senior right fielder Nick LaCroix (Grafton, Mass.) was next and chopped a ball up the third-base line, which Racek scrambled after but could not field cleanly, allowing LaCroix to reach on the error to load the bases. The first run of the game came courtesy of sophomore catcher Matt Walsh (Plymouth, Mass.), who lined a 2-2 pitch into left field after the error to score Kemp. Junior designated hitter Marty Dunlap (Dorchester, Mass.) followed with a ground ball to shortstop which was a potential double-play ball. Though the run would have scored on the double play anyway, Dunlap picked up an RBI fielder's choice as the relay throw to first pulled the first baseman off the bag.

The Ravens doubled the lead to 4-0 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, sophomore center fielder John Razzino (Cranston, R.I.) knocked a single to center and went first-to-third when O'Herron went the other way and dumped a single inside the right-field line. With runners at the corners and two outs, the Ravens had O'Herron take off for second with the pitcher still holding the ball, hoping he could get caught up in a rundown long enough for Razzino to score. However, sophomore second baseman Brendan Fallers dropped the throw his way after the pitcher stepped off the rubber, allowing O'Herron to retreat to first and Razzino to score uncontested. Freshman second baseman Justin Brock (Latham, N.Y.) was at the plate when this happened, and he hammered the second pitch of his at-bat into the gap in left-center field for an RBI triple to score O'Herron from first.

Wilmington got runners to scoring position in both the seventh and the eighth innings, as it threatened to draw closer down the stretch. But Leach, who piled up 11 groundball outs on the day, got groundouts to end each threat, including an inning-ending, 6-4-3 double play in the eighth.

The groundout in the seventh prevented further damage after Wilmington plated an unearned run for its only score of the day. With one out, senior left fielder Brandon Payne bounced a single through the left side of the infield. He would move to third when junior first baseman Joe Marciano hit a ground ball to first which Mathieu couldn't handle, allowing Marciano to reach at second and Payne to move to third on the error. An RBI groundout by Annone scored Payne, but then another groundout by senior center fielder Jordan Johnson ended the inning with Marciano still at second.

After the aforementioned double play to end the top of the eighth, Franklin Pierce picked up one final insurance run in the bottom half of the inning. With one out, Dunlap pulled a single through the left side and was replaced by sophomore pinch runner Ryan Boswell (New Bedford, Mass.). The added speed drew an errant pickoff throw, which allowed Boswell to scamper all the way around to third. He then scored when he beat the throw to the plate after Razzino laid down a squeeze bunt. The run created a four-run margin for the Ravens, who finished things off in the top of the ninth.

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).