RINDGE, N.H. (April 15, 2022) -- The runs came in bunches on Friday afternoon at Pappas Field, but for just one team at a time in a Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader between the Franklin Pierce University baseball team and Saint Anselm. In the first game, Saint Anselm used four in the second and six more in the sixth to key an 11-6 victory behind a quartet of home runs. In the second game, it was Franklin Pierce which slugged four home runs of its own and hammered out 17 hits on the way to a 21-2 rout.

With the split, Franklin Pierce moves to 17-9 (6-4 NE10), while Saint Anselm now stands at 14-18 (7-7 NE10). The two teams will wrap up the four-game weekend series with a doubleheader on Saturday at Pappas Field. The start time has been moved up to 10 a.m. in anticipation of wet weather later in the day.

Game 1: Saint Anselm 11, Franklin Pierce 6

The sun came out, seemingly for the first time in weeks at Pappas Field, for Friday's first game, and it seemed to heat up the Saint Anselm bats, as the Hawks ambushed Franklin Pierce graduate student left-hander Patrick Hannon (Willington, Conn.) for a trio of home runs over 5.1 innings.

Hannon had scuffled early and surrendered a pair of long balls in the second, but kept things close enough, as Saint Anselm held a 5-4 lead heading to the sixth, but then the wheels fell off. A single, a walk and a strikeout put two runners on and one away for graduate student Salvatore Pezzolla. Pezzolla hammered the ball the other way, an estimated 410 feet into the power alley in right-center for a three-run homer, his second of the season.

After a double by senior Kyle Maurice followed, senior right-hander Zack Brundage (Wellington, Fla.) took over for Hannon on the hill. He struck out one, but also hit a batter and surrendered a 395-foot shot off the scoreboard in right-center to senior Mike Pierro, his fourth of the campaign, as Saint Anselm made it a six-spot in the inning and cruised to the 11-6 victory.

Hannon (4-1) wound up throwing 105 pitches (65 strikes) over just 5.1 innings. He was tagged for nine runs (eight earned) on nine hits, walked three and struck out nine. Saint Anselm scored 11 runs in the game despite striking out 16 times at the plate.

On the other site, freshman right-hander Adam Betty (3-3) chucked 98 pitches (65 strikes) over the first five innings. He allowed four runs on eight hits, walked three and struck out three on the way to the win. Sophomore right-hander Will Hunter went the rest of the way, allowed two runs on three hits walked two, hit a batter and struck out four in a four-inning save, his first of the season.

Game 2: Franklin Pierce 21, Saint Anselm 2

The Ravens turned the tables and then some in the second game, which was a seven-inning affair. Saint Anselm plated one in the second, but Franklin Pierce responded with six in the second and seven more in the third to take all the drama out of things, and then piled on six more in the fourth for good measure, before starting to empty the bench.

Sophomore Randy Flores (Brooklyn, N.Y.) provided the second inning's keynote address, as he clubbed a 370-foot grand slam into the gap in right-center, his third home run of the season. It was the first of two grand slams in the game for the Ravens, as junior Joel Lara (Boston, Mass.) went to dead center, some 410 feet, for his second round-tripper of the campaign in the third inning. Sophomore Ian Battipaglia (Cheshire, Conn.) would homer later in the third, with a 375-foot shot the other way to right-center, his fourth of the year.

Sophomore Hunter Wilichoski (Hamilton, Mass.) capped the Franklin Pierce homer barrage with a three-run shot in the fourth, as he went 350 feet to right field for his team-leading fifth of the year, and the Ravens won going away.

The offensive onslaught came in support of right-hander Kyle Roche (Braintree, Mass.) in the second game. The sophomore threw the first five innings on 87 pitches (58 strikes), allowed one run on three hits, walked one and piled up 10 strikeouts on the way to the win (4-0).

Meanwhile, Saint Anselm used six pitchers to get through the seven innings, and all but one of them surrendered at least three runs. Junior right-hander John Donovan (0-7) started and suffered the loss after two ineffective innings, as he was tagged for six runs on five hits, two walks and one hit batsman, while striking out one.