Willey logs 3.2-inning save; Razzino clubs three-run triple

Box score (Game 1)
Box score (Game 2) 

BROOKHAVEN, N.Y. (March 9, 2014) – A day after suffering a pair of one-run losses at Dowling, the No. 7/12 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University baseball team responded with a one-run win of its own, a 3-2 victory, in the front end of a non-conference doubleheader at Golden Lions Field on Sunday afternoon. The Franklin Pierce offense followed up with a 10-run outburst in the second game at Dowling to complete the sweep with a 10-4 win and force a split of the four-game weekend series.

With the wins, Franklin Pierce improves to 10-4 (0-0 Northeast-10), while Dowling falls to 7-4 (0-0 East Coast).

In the first game of the day, Franklin Pierce opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the third inning. With two outs, senior center fielder Calvin Graves (Boston, Mass.) singled inside the left-field line and then stole second. He stole third as well, and scored on the play as Dowling sophomore catcher Michael Rizzitello threw the ball away. Junior right fielder John Razzino (Cranston, R.I.) started things again with a two-out walk and moved to second on a single through the right side of the infield by freshman third baseman Jay Jabs (Schwenksville, Pa.). Razzino stole third and later Jabs took off for second before the pitcher committed to plate. However, the pitcher threw the ball away, allowing Razzino to come home to score.

The Ravens added a run in the top of the fourth to push the lead to 3-0. Junior catcher Matt Walsh (Plymouth, Mass.) led off with an infield single to shortstop and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior designated hitter Marty Dunlap (Dorchester, Mass.). Walsh then took third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by freshman left fielder Chris LaVorgna (North Haven, Conn.).

Dowling got on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the gap to 3-1. Senior second baseman Andrew Abreu led off with a single to right field and then went first-to-third on a wild pitch. He would score two batters later on an RBI single back up the middle by sophomore first baseman R.J. Going. The run-scoring single chased junior right-hander Brendan O'Rourke (Shrewsbury, Mass.) from the mound in favor of fellow junior right-hander Doug Willey (Shelburne, N.H.), who gave up a bunt single before getting a groundout and a lineout to end the threat.

Another run in the bottom of the eighth would pull the Golden Lions within a run, but they would get no closer and it wound up creating the 3-1 final. Senior left fielder Rob Veltre opened the inning with a double down the left-field line. He moved to third two batters later on a sacrifice bunt by junior third baseman Vinny Orlando and scored an RBI double to right field by senior designated hitter Ian Schneider. Dowling was still working against Willey, who hit the next batter to put the go-ahead run on first, but got junior right fielder Adam Schuster to fly out to center to end the threat.

O'Rourke threw the first 5.1 to pick up the win (2-0) on the mound for Franklin Pierce. He allowed one run on five hits, walked one, hit a batter and struck out five. Willey logged the final 3.2 to notch his third save of the campaign. He allowed one run on four hits and hit one batter.

On the other side of the diamond, senior right-hander J.J. Bessell took the ball for Dowling. Over seven innings of work, he allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits, walked two and struck out five while taking the loss (0-1).

Dowling opened the scoring in the second game -- a seven-inning affair -- with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, junior center fielder Johnathon Cruz singled back up the middle and went first-to-third when Abreu followed with a single up the middle of his own. After Abreu stole second, both runners scored on a two-run double to right by Veltre.

Franklin Pierce responded immediately, sent nine men to the plate and scored five times in the top of the fourth inning to jump to a 5-2 lead. Sophomore first baseman Matt O'Herron (Springfield, Mass.) reached on an error by the shortstop to open the inning, before back-to-back hit batsmen put Walsh and LaVorgna on as well to load the bases with nobody out. Junior designated hitter Rob Chooljian (Hampton, N.H.) opened the inning's scoring with an RBI infield single to first base. Freshman second baseman Kyle Hood (Arlington, Mass.) was next and went the other way for an RBI single to right to score Walsh and keep the bases loaded. Three batters later, Razzino provided the keynote address of the inning by clubbing a three-run triple to right field to give the Ravens the lead.

Dowling picked up one run in the bottom of the fourth to cut the gap back to 5-3. Rizzitello led off the frame with an infield single to short and moved to second as Schneider followed with a walk. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third, Schuster plated Rizzitello with an RBI single to left.

Franklin Pierce began to break the game open with two runs in the top of the fifth to stretch the lead to 7-3. O'Herron again reached on an error by the shortstop to start the inning, though this time he wound up on second on the play. He would score immediately, as Walsh followed with an RBI single up the middle which chased the Dowling starting pitcher, freshman Cody McPartland from the game after four-plus innings. Two batters later, junior designated hitter Ryan Boswell (New Bedford, Mass.), who had pinch-run for Chooljian in the fourth, reached on a fielder's choice, which saw Walsh erased at second. Boswell then stole second and scored on an RBI double to left by Hood.

Franklin Pierce chipped in a run in the top of the sixth and two in the top of the seventh, while Dowling added one in the bottom of the seventh to create the 10-4 final. Razzino scored an unearned run in the sixth, while sophomore pinch hitter Kurtis White had an RBI single and later scored on a wild pitch in the top of the seventh. In the home half of the seventh, Veltre picked up an RBI groundout for Dowling.

Senior right-hander Ryan Leach (Farmingdale, Maine) took the mound for Franklin Pierce in the second game. He fired six innings, allowed three runs on eight hits, walked two and struck out six to pick up the win (3-0).

McPartland departed after four-plus on the hill for Dowling. He was hit with seven runs, though six were unearned, allowed seven hits, hit three batters and struck out two while taking the loss (0-2).

The Ravens return to the field on Friday, March 14, when they open a six-game Florida swing with the first game of a three-game, non-conference series at Saint Leo. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Thomas B. Southard Stadium in Saint Leo, 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).