RINDGE, N.H. (March 27, 2022) -- At times on Sunday afternoon, it seemed like there was a hex on the infield at Pappas Field, as the Franklin Pierce University baseball team and Bentley combined for five errors, in what was a sloppy finale to the four-game Northeast-10 Conference weekend series between the two teams. It was Franklin Pierce which was most able to capitalize on its opponent's miscues, as 11 hits allowed the Ravens to plate 10 runs, which was more than enough to cover for the three errors the team committed in the field. When all was said and done, it was a 10-6 win for Franklin Pierce, to finish off the weekend sweep.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 13-5 (4-0 NE10) and has won eight in a row, while Bentley falls to 5-14 (0-4 NE10). For the Ravens, it is the longest winning streak since a nine-game stretch late in the 2018 campaign.

The pitching was a late arrival on the scene on Sunday, as the two teams combined for five first-inning runs. Bentley struck for three in the top half, with a pair of long balls. Graduate student Kyle Halloran led off the game first-pitch swinging and belted it an estimated 385 feet to right-center field for his first home run of the year. After sophomore Jackson Walonis followed with a walk, junior Tim Zupkus hit a 390-foot missile into the parking lot in straightaway left field, his second of the season.

Franklin Pierce answered with a two-run dinger of its own in the home half of the first. Sophomore Ian Battipaglia (Cheshire, Conn.) lashed a one-out single to center, and then graduate student Charles Lebron (Brooklyn, N.Y.) provided a towering shot down the right-field line, an estimated 375 feet right over the foul pole, his second of the campaign.

Both pitchers settled in briefly from there. Bentley doubled the lead to 4-2 with an unearned run in the top of the fourth. Senior Liam Sears hit a one-hopper directly at the shortstop, but Battipaglia whiffed on it, which allowed Sears to reach on an error. Sears moved to second on a balk and scored when sophomore Tyler Gonzalez drove a double into the gap in right-center.

Franklin Pierce would capitalize on a pair of Bentley errors to turn the tide and stake out a 7-4 lead with five runs -- just one of which was earned -- in the bottom of the fourth. After a two-out single by junior Joel Lara (Boston, Mass.) drove in a run and put runners at first and second, sophomore Randy Flores (Brooklyn, N.Y.) hit a routine grounder to short which Bentley junior Joe Boushell could not handle, allowing another run to score and leaving runners at the corners. From there, Battipaglia drove in a run with his second single to center of the afternoon. Bentley had a second chance to end the inning, as Lebron hit a ground ball to second, but sophomore Tyler Gonzalez threw the ball away to load the bases, and then sophomore Hunter Wilichoski (Hamilton, Mass.) punished the mistakes with a  two-run single through the left side of the infield.

The Ravens tacked on two more in the fifth to break the game open at 9-4, and eventually won going away, 10-6. In the fifth, junior Graham Smith (Wilmington, Mass.) laced an RBI double down the left-field line, while Flores drove in a run with a single off the glove of the pitcher. In the seventh, sophomore Ryan Lavelle (East Longmeadow, Mass.) socked his first career home run, a leadoff shot of an estimated 340 feet down the left-field line.

Junior Eddy Beauregard also went deep in the game for Bentley, with a 350-foot strike to left field to lead off the top of the sixth, his third of the season.

Junior right-hander Danny Gracia (Wilmington, Mass.) struggled early on the mound for Franklin Pierce, but eventually got through six innings on 88 pitches (58 strikes). He surrendered five runs (four earned) on five hits, walked one and struck out six while picking up the win (2-1).

Senior right-hander Jake Ursillo (North Haledon, N.J.) threw two innings of one-hit ball out of the bullpen, including some work as an escape-artist in the seventh. He came on with the bases loaded, the tying run at the plate, nobody out, and 2-3-4 in the Bentley order coming up eager to cash in. Ursillo got Walonis to fly out to shallow left field, then struck out both Zupkus and Beauregard to strand the bases full.

On the other side, graduate student right-hander Jimmy Hodgson (1-4) threw 76 pitches (43 strikes) over four ineffective innings, though he was done no favors by his defense. He was ultimately charged with seven runs (three earned) on eight hits, walked two and struck out three.

The Ravens are on the road next weekend, for a four-game NE10 series at Assumption. The two sides will play one game at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, a doubleheader at noon on Saturday and the fourth game at noon on Sunday, all at Rocheleau Field in Worcester, Mass.