RINDGE, N.H. (May 10, 2022) -- Assumption junior right-hander Jack Choate stole the show on the road on Tuesday night in the first round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship at Pappas Field. He went the distance on 131 pitches (90 strikes) and piled up 18 strikeouts to author a one-hit shutout, as the Greyhounds dealt the Franklin Pierce University baseball team a 2-0 loss. Sophomore right-hander Kyle Roche (Braintree, Mass.) was no slouch on the other side for the Ravens, as he struck out nine over 8.1 strong innings of his own. Roche ceded only a pair of unearned runs, as a result of a first-inning throwing error by sophomore second baseman Randy Flores (Brooklyn, N.Y.).

With the loss, Franklin Pierce -- the Northeast Division's second seed -- falls to 28-15 and will have to wait until Sunday night to see if it has done enough to qualify for the NCAA Championship. With the win, third-seeded Assumption improves to 22-21 and will host the double-elimination portion of the NE10 Championship Thursday through Saturday at Rocheleau Field in Worcester, Mass.

The only runs of the evening came right out of the gate in the top of the first, courtesy of the Franklin Pierce defense. Senior Connor Wironen took a walk leading off the game for Assumption, and then junior Kevin Cox struck out. Roche then induced a weak ground ball on the right side, which Flores fielded cleanly moving to his left. Flores had a sure out available at first base, but in an effort to cut down the lead runner turned and fired against his momentum to second base instead.

The decision proved costly, as the throw missed its target to the inside of the bag, sailed past sophomore shortstop Ian Battipaglia (Cheshire, Conn.) and skittered down the left-field line, which allowed Wironen to race all the way around to score and put Acosta on at second. After a groundout, sophomore Jared Berardino really made the error hurt, as he rapped a two-out single through the left side. Sophomore left fielder Ryan Lavelle (East Meadow, Mass.) may have had a shot to get Acosta at the plate with a good throw, but heaved the ball high, long and into the screen behind the plate instead.

It was nothing but zeroes on the scoreboard from there, and despite the 6 p.m. start, the lights at Pappas Field would not prove necessary until the seventh inning. With both Choate and Roche pitching like they were double-parked, the game was done and dusted in just an hour and 54 minutes.

Choate (6-2) -- who had Major League Baseball scouts in attendance to watch his outing -- was nearly untouchable. The 6-foot-6 southpaw filled up the strike zone all night, en route an 18-strikeout, one-hit shutout, which saw him face just 32 batters while recording 27 outs. He hit a batter and walked a pair along the way.

Meanwhile, Roche (5-2) was an extremely hard-luck loser on the other side of the ledger, as the two unearned runs in the first inning held up the rest of the way. He fired 109 pitches (70 strikes) over 8.1 splendid innings of his own, as he faced only 30 batters while recording 25 outs. Roche walked a pair and struck out nine.