Landry throws four shutout out of bullpen against Bridgeport

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (February 22, 2015) – Sophomore third baseman Jay Jabs (Schwenksville, Pa.) and senior catcher Matt Walsh (Plymouth, Mass.) each hit home runs on Sunday, as the No. 19/22 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University baseball team made a clean sweep of its five-game, season-opening trip to The Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach. The Ravens defeated Mercy, 8-2, and Bridgeport, 8-6, to cap their three-day trip to the Palmetto State.

With the wins, Franklin Pierce improves to 5-0 (0-0 Northeast-10), while Mercy and Bridgeport each fell to 0-5 (0-0 East Coast).

Franklin Pierce played as the home team in both games and opened the scoring against Mercy with a run in the bottom of the second inning. With two outs and nobody on, Jabs clubbed a solo home run, his first of the season.

Mercy answered immediately with a run in the top of the third to even the game at 1-1. Junior first baseman Justin Palladino led off with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, stole third and scored on a wild pitch.

The Ravens broke the game open with a six-spot in the bottom of the third inning to jump to a 7-1 lead. Junior first baseman Matt O'Herron (Springfield, Mass.) had an RBI double in the inning, as part of a 3-for-4 game, while Walsh and sophomore left fielder Chris LaVorgna (North Haven, Conn.) each had RBI singles and senior designated hitter Bryan Dionicio (West Hartford, Conn.) bounced into an RBI fielder's choice.

Each team scored a single run in the eighth inning to create the 8-2 final. In the top half, Mercy freshman shortstop Bryan Torres worked a one-out walk, went first-to-third on a single by junior center fielder Scott Hagan and scored on an RBI single by freshman right fielder John Young. In the bottom half, junior center fielder Maxx Sheehan (San Jose, Calif.) cranked a two-out triple and scored when LaVorgna followed with his second RBI single of the afternoon.

Junior right-hander Paul Covelle (Medford, Mass.) started the first game on Sunday and threw the first six innings for Franklin Pierce. He allowed one run on six hits, walked two, threw a wild pitch and struck out two on the way to the win (1-0).

Junior right-hander James Patterson started and tossed the first seven innings for Mercy. He was roughed up for seven runs (six earned) on 12 hits, walked three and struck out just one while taking the loss (0-1).

The game against Bridgeport turned into a barnburner in the middle innings, but first, Franklin Pierce opened the scoring loudly in the bottom of the first. Senior right fielder John Razzino (Cranston, R.I.) lashed a two-out single to center field and scored when Walsh followed with a two-run home run to left field, his second of the season.

Bridgeport cut the gap to 2-1 with a run in the top of the third inning. Senior designated hitter Mike Miniter opened the frame with a walk and moved to second on a walk to sophomore center fielder Tyler Gambardella. Two batters later, another walk, to senior shortstop John Ascenzia loaded the bases. Miniter then scored when sophomore second baseman Dylan Steigerwald bounced into an RBI fielder's choice.

Franklin Pierce appeared to break the game open in the bottom of the fifth inning, when it struck for four runs to push the lead to 6-1. Junior shortstop Justin Brock (Latham, N.Y.) started things with a one-out single to center and moved to second as Sheehan reached on an error. After a groundout moved them to second and third, both runners would score two batters later on a two-run single to center by Razzino. A double to the gap in left-center by Walsh put runners at second and third again, this time for O'Herron, who cashed them both in with a two-run double to right field.

Bridgeport had other ideas, however, and rallied to tie the game at 6-6 with five runs in the top of the sixth. Senior catcher Tim Bickford was hit by a pitch leading off the inning, and that spelled the end of the day for senior right-hander Conor Gleason (North Stonington, Conn.), who departed after five-plus innings in his first start of the season.

The Ravens turned the game over to senior right-hander Doug Willey (Shelburne, N.H.) who would face five batters, but retire none of them. Willey walked junior first baseman Kyle Platner after entering and then surrendered four consecutive singles. A single to left by freshman left fielder Kevin Fich loaded the bases, before junior pinch hitter Bryan Kondor drove in Bickford with another single to left. Gambardella was next and drove a two-run single into center field to score Platner and Fich. A bunt single by sophomore right fielder Casey Ouellete then loaded the bases again and meant the end of the line for Willey, who gave way to fellow senior right-hander Travis Landry (Loudon, N.H.).

Sophomore Matt Costleigh pinch-hit for Ascenzia to face Landry, but Landry got him to bounce into a 4-6-3 double play for the first two outs of the inning. Steigerwald followed with an RBI single to right field to plate Gambardella and tie the game, but Landry got sophomore third baseman Casey McCone to fly out to right field to prevent the Purple Knights from taking the lead.

The Franklin Pierce bats responded immediately, with some aid from the Bridgeport defense, and plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead and create the 8-6 final. Freshman designated hitter Christopher Stanford (Quebec City, Quebec) led off and reached on an error by Costleigh at shortstop. Sophomore second baseman Kyle Hood (Arlington, Mass.) was next and attempted to give himself up with a sacrifice bunt, but reached at first on an error by the pitcher. Stanford was lifted for a pinch runner in the form of junior Max DiTondo (Marshfield, Mass.) and, two batters later, Sheehan was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

The hit batsman meant the end of the day for Bridgeport senior left-hander Brian O'Keefe, who was relieved by freshman lefthander PJ Martino. Martino provided little in the way of relief though, as he faced just one batter and issued a bases-loaded walk to LaVorgna, to force home DiTondo with what would stand as the game-winning run. Razzino was next and greeted sophomore right-hander Dakota Edwards with an RBI groundout to score Hood with an insurance run.

Gleason tossed the first five innings (plus one batter in the sixth) on the hill for Franklin Pierce and did not factor in the decision. He allowed two runs on two hits, walked four, hit a batter and struck out seven. Landry took over in a bind in the sixth and, despite allowing one inherited runner to score, went the rest of the way and threw four shutout innings in the process. He surrendered three hits, did not issue a walk and struck out three to pick up the win (1-0) out of the bullpen.

O'Keefe logged the first 5.1 innings for Bridgeport and was tagged with the loss (0-1), despite a lack of help from his defense, which committed four errors behind him. O'Keefe allowed eight runs (two earned) on nine hits, walked two, hit a batter and struck out seven.

The Ravens have also announced a slight change to their schedule for next weekend. Franklin Pierce will now face LIU Post in a single game at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28, to be held at Mavericks Field on the campus of Mercy in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. The Ravens will then take on Mercy in a noon doubleheader on Sunday, March 1, which remains as-scheduled.

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).