Ravens claim crown for first time since 2009

WEST HAVEN, Conn. (May 9, 2015) – Senior right fielder John Razzino (Cranston, R.I.) beat out the back end of a potential double play to drive in the tying run and junior first baseman Matt O'Herron (Springfield, Mass.) lifted a sacrifice fly to drive in the eventual game-winning run on Saturday afternoon, as the No. 1/3 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University baseball team rallied from a 6-2 deficit to claim its record-tying fifth Northeast-10 Conference Championship title with a 7-6 win over Stonehill. The win allowed the Ravens to complete a sweep through the Northeast-10 Championship, which was hosted by New Haven at Frank Vieira Field.

With the win, Franklin Pierce -- the Northeast Division's top seed -- improves to 46-2 and has won 27 in a row, extending the team's program-record winning streak. With the loss, Stonehill -- the third seed out of the Northeast -- falls to 33-13-1. Franklin Pierce -- which earned its first Northeast-10 crown since 2009 -- tied both Springfield and Massachusetts Lowell for the Conference record by winning its fifth title.

With the win, Franklin Pierce earns the Northeast-10's automatic bid into next week's six-team NCAA Championship East Regional. The Ravens are expected to earn the top seed and host the East Regional, and the field will be officially announced at 10 p.m. on Sunday, May 10, in a selection show which will be streamed live online at ncaa.com. Stonehill was third in last week's regional rankings and is expected to earn an at-large bid into the field as well

After the conclusion of play on Saturday, senior catcher Matt Walsh (Plymouth, Mass.) was named the Most Valuable Player of the Northeast-10 Championship. Joining him on the All-Championship Team from the Ravens were sophomore right-hander Mike Lundin (Kingston, Mass.) and senior right-hander Paul Fahey (Dorchester, Mass.).

Already trailing 5-2, the Ravens got into more trouble in the top of the seventh inning, as Stonehill extended the lead to 6-2. The inning started at the top of the order with junior center fielder Chris Hoyt, who went the other way and knocked a leadoff double down the right-field line. He moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by senior second baseman Christian Baglini and then scored on a wild pitch. With two outs, a single back up the middle signaled the end of the day for the Franklin Pierce starter, junior right-hander Paul Covelle (Medford, Mass.). Freshman right-hander Sam Steeves (Dorchester, Mass.) came on to strike out senior catcher Eric Schneider on four pitches, which stranded the runner and got Franklin Pierce back to the plate.

The Franklin Pierce offense, which had collected just four hits through the first six innings, came to life in a big way against senior right-hander Armand Rugel and a pair of bullpen arms in the bottom half of the seventh. The Ravens sent 11 men to the plate and put together a five-run inning to rally for a lead they would not relinquish. Things began with the sixth spot in the order, as sophomore designated hitter Chris LaVorgna (North Haven, Conn.) knocked a leadoff single into center field and then moved to second on a single pulled into left field by sophomore second baseman Kyle Hood (Arlington, Mass.). Junior left fielder Kurtis White (Nahant, Mass.) was next and hit the ball on the ground, but an error up the middle by Stonehill senior shortstop Dan Fratus allowed White to reach on a fielder's choice, while Hood was safe at second on the error to load the bases with nobody out. From there, back-to-back RBI singles -- up the middle by junior shortstop Justin Brock (Latham, N.Y.) and through the left side of the infield by junior center fielder Maxx Sheehan (San Jose, Calif.) -- scored LaVorgna and Hood to cut the lead to 6-4, and the bases remained loaded with nobody out.

The Sheehan single spelled the end of the day for Rugel, who was replaced by senior left-hander Steve Pike. Pike was summoned for the lefty-lefty matchup with sophomore third baseman Jay Jabs (Schwenksville, Pa.), who battled to a 2-2 count and eventually pulled the seventh pitch of the at-bat into right field for a single to drive home White to make it 6-5. Pike faced just the one batter and left in favor of sophomore right-hander Aubrey Solomon.

The first man Solomon faced was Razzino, and the former induced the latter to hit a groundball to Fratus at short. Stonehill elected to allow the tying run to score, in favor of attempting to turn the double play. Fratus got the ball to Baglini to force out Jabs, but Razzino's speed beat out the relay to first to preserve the RBI and leave runners at the corners with one out in a tie game. Razzino then immediately stole second, his 45th stolen base of the season, which matched his own program single-season record from a year ago.

Preventing Stonehill from turning two proved huge for Franklin Pierce. Stonehill elected to issue an intentional walk to Walsh after Solomon fell behind in the count, which brought O'Herron to the plate with the bases full and one away. The first baseman lifted the third pitch of the at-bat to center field, deep enough to allow Sheehan to speed home with the go-ahead run.

Steeves went back out to start the top of the eighth, but made his exit after he surrendered a leadoff single to left field to junior designated hitter Brian Hocking. The Ravens went to the bullpen, and turned to senior right-hander Brendan O'Rourke (Shrewsbury, Mass.) on just one day's rest. O'Rourke had been forced from the game after just 3.1 innings by New Haven on Thursday, but was able to take care of business to nail down the Northeast-10 title on Saturday. O'Rourke recorded the final six outs of the afternoon while facing just seven batters, struck out three and worked around a two-out walk in the ninth to notch his first career save.

Covelle had started for the Ravens earlier on Saturday and threw 99 pitches (68 strikes) while grinding his way through 6.2 innings. He allowed six runs (three earned) on nine hits, walked one, threw three wild pitches, balked twice, struck out nine and did not factor in the decision. With the Franklin Pierce rally for the lead in the bottom of the seventh, Steeves wound up the winning pitcher (1-0) -- the first win of his collegiate career -- while throwing just six pitches.

On the other side, Rugel tossed 91 pitches (55 strikes) over six-plus innings, as he did not retire any of the five batters he faced in the seventh. He was ultimately charged with seven runs (five earned) on eight hits, walked one, hit a batter and did not record a strikeout while taking the loss (7-1). Between Pike and Solomon, all three Franklin Pierce runners which were on base when Rugel exited were allowed to score.

Earlier in the day, Franklin Pierce had jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Jabs walked and scored when Razzino followed with a triple the other way into the gap in right-center. Razzino then scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Walsh.

Stonehill tied the game with two runs in the top of the second and then scored a trio of unearned runs in the top of the third to take the 5-2 lead. In the second, Fratus doubled to right-center and scored on a triple to right by Schneider, who then scored on an RBI groundout by Hocking. In the third, Schneider had an RBI double to left-center and Fratus had an RBI single back up the middle, while Hoyt had earlier dumped a single into right-center and eventually came home to score on an error.

After the third inning, the game went scoreless until the seventh, when Stonehill extended the lead before the Ravens rallied for the victory.

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).