MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (February 27, 2022) -- With a 14-hour bus trip home waiting for them after the game, junior Danny Gracia (Wilmington, Mass.) made sure the Franklin Pierce University baseball team got out of town in a timely manner on Sunday morning. The right-hander dispatched Mercy in just over two hours at The Ripken Experience, as he went the distance and struck out seven to lead the Ravens to a 5-3 victory in the last of their five games in Myrtle Beach.

With the win, Franklin Pierce returns home at 4-1, while Mercy falls to 2-6.

Mercy played as the visiting team on Sunday, and opened the scoring with an unearned run in the top of the third. Senior Nikko Liguori, a former Raven, reached on a two-out error and later scored on an RBI double to left by junior Nolan Giblin.

Franklin Pierce answered immediately, with two runs in the bottom half of the third, and another in the fourth. In the third, junior Graham Smith (Wilmington, Mass.) and sophomore Ian Battipaglia (Cheshire, Conn.) both had singles and later scored on a two-run single by graduate student Charles Lebron (Brooklyn, N.Y.). In the fourth, junior Jethro Hurt (New York, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch leading off and eventually scored on an RBI single to right by sophomore Ryan Lavelle (East Longmeadow, Mass.).

Mercy evened things up with two in the top of the fifth. After senior Ryan Saltzman reached on an error, freshman Jaden Caballero launched his second home run of the season to left field.

Franklin Pierce would use a single run apiece in the seventh and eighth innings to pull out the 5-3 victory. In the seventh, Battipaglia drove a double the other way to right field and later scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Lebron, who drove in three in the game. In the eighth, sophomore Jose Savinon (Brooklyn, N.Y.) pinch hit and clubbed his second home run of the trip.

After the Ravens took the lead in the bottom of the seventh, Gracia (1-0) retired all six batters he faced the rest of the way to finish what he started. He allowed three runs (one earned) on nine hits, did not issue a walk and fanned seven in the complete-game victory.

For Mercy, freshman Scott Scheppy (0-1) logged the first seven innings. He surrendered four runs on 10 hits, hit one batter and struck out three.

The Ravens head right back to the Carolinas next weekend, as they have five games scheduled in Cary, N.C., from March 4-6.