RINDGE, N.H. (April 3, 2017) – After watching a senior captain and three-hole hitter depart with a hand injury on Sunday night, the Franklin Pierce University baseball team took the field on Monday afternoon with a hole in the lineup, but a chance to finish off a three-game sweep of Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division opponent Assumption. The remaining bats rose to the occasion in a big way, as the Ravens hammered out 17 hits and drew 10 walks on the way to an 18-3 rout of the Greyhounds at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field. Junior catcher Stephen Octave (New Windsor, N.Y.) hit a pair of mammoth home runs to drive in six runs in the victory.

With the win, the Ravens improve to 13-7 (5-1 NE10, 4-0 NE Div.) and have won seven of eight, while Assumption falls to 8-12 (1-4 NE10, 0-3 NE Div.).

After the game, Franklin Pierce also announced a schedule change for its upcoming midweek contest against intrastate rival Southern New Hampshire. The divisional showdown has been postponed one day to Wednesday, April 5, and will now be played at Pappas Field, instead of at SNHU, as originally scheduled. As a result of the switch, the game between the two scheduled for Tuesday, May 2 will now be played at SNHU's Penmen Field.

Franklin Pierce jumped all over the Assumption starter, junior right-hander Tom Horstkotte, for five runs on five hits in the bottom of the first inning to open up a lead in a hurry. Senior shortstop Lucas Luopa (Keene, N.H.) led off and dumped the second pitch of the inning into left-center field. The ball hung up in the air, and the Assumption defense was not quick to track it down, so Luopa rolled the dice and attempted to stretch it into a double. He was successful, as the throw from the center fielder was well wide of second base. Luopa then moved to third on a ground out, before junior first baseman Dalton Davis (Birmingham, Ala.) took a four-pitch walk.

After another groundout left runners at second and third with two outs, junior right fielder Adam Chase (Bridgewater, Mass.) opened the scoring with a single to left field to plate Luopa. Freshman designated hitter Dylan Jones (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) was next and drove a 1-2 pitch the other way, deep into the gap in right-center field for a two-run triple to make it 3-0. Jones scored as junior left fielder Tim Going (Islip, N.Y.) followed and dunked a flare into no-man's land between the second baseman, center fielder and right fielder. Going legged out an RBI double on the play and then came around to score on a line-drive single the other way into right field by senior second baseman Kyle Hood (Arlington, Mass.).

Assumption picked up a run in the top of the second to make it a 5-1 game. With two outs, sophomore left fielder Trevor McQuade drove a 1-0 fastball an estimated 360 feet to straightaway right field for a solo home run, his second of the season.

Franklin Pierce answered immediately with two runs in the home half of the second to push the lead out to 7-1. With one out, junior third baseman John Friday (Southborough, Mass.) pulled a sharp ground ball inside the bag at third and down in to the left-field corner for a double. He scored two batters later as Octave jumped on a first-pitch fastball and blasted a towering home run of an estimated 400 feet, which cleared the fence just to the right of the batter's eye in straightaway center.

Another run in the bottom of the third stretched the lead to 8-1. Jones took a five-pitch walk leading off, before Going was hit by a pitch. After a walk to junior center fielder Harrison Smoske (Burlington, Mass.) loaded the bases, Luopa lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to plate Jones.

Three more runs in the bottom of the fifth put the Ravens into double digits and made it 11-1. Hood took a leadoff walk and later scored on an RBI single back into center field by Friday. A wild pitch would later lead to two runs, as the catcher's throw to the pitcher covering the plate hit the incoming runner in the back and deflected to the backstop again, allowing the trail runner to sprint home from third as well.

The Greyhounds picked up a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to close the deficit to 11-3. Senior first baseman Jacob Byrne led off with a single to center, but was erased at second base as sophomore shortstop Hunter Tralli reached on a fielder's choice. Tralli would eventually score from third on an RBI single through the left side of the infield by sophomore center fielder Alex Richardson. Meanwhile, McQuade singled to left-center and later scored on an RBI single back through the middle by freshman second baseman Jared Brescia.

Franklin Pierce tacked on three runs in the sixth and four more in the eighth to create the 18-3 final. In the sixth, Hood laced a line drive back through the box, which almost took the pitcher with it into center field before it turned into a two-run single. Hood would later score on an RBI single to center by Friday.

Octave provided the keynote address in the eighth inning to cap the day's scoring with an exclamation mark. With the bases full of Ravens and one away, he was swinging on the first pitch again and turned around a fastball over the middle for a long grand slam to the power alley in left-center, which was his team-leading third home run of the season. The four-run shot was estimated at 385 feet, as it banged off the roof of a maintenance shed beyond the 365-foot marker in left-center.

Sophomore right-hander Zach Hart (Wallingford, Conn.) started on the mound and threw 93 pitches (61 strikes) over the first six innings on the mound for the Ravens. He allowed three runs on eight hits, walked two and hit a batter, but did not record a strikeout on the way to the win (2-1).

Meanwhile, Horstkotte (1-3) could not escape the second inning for Assumption, as he used up 39 pitches (24 strikes) in just 1.2 innings. He was tagged for seven runs on seven hits in the short outing, walked one and struck out one while taking the loss.

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).