RINDGE, N.H. (4/22/23) – In one of their best defensive showings of the season, the Franklin Pierce pitching played the shutdown game against Assumption University on Saturday afternoon, completing the weekend sweep for the Ravens with 3-0 and 1-0 wins to close out the series with the Greyhounds.

With the sweep, Pierce improves to 26-11 (13-3 NE10) while Assumption drops to 11-28 (4-12 NE10) overall.

GAME #1

The first of the twin-bill proved to be a pitching duel between Ravens starter Hunter Reynolds () and Greyhounds starter Griffin O'Connor. Each pitched three scoreless innings to open the game.  

After failing to record a hit the first three frames, the Raven bats immediately caught fire in the bottom of the fourth inning. Senior Joel Lara (Boston, Mass.) snapped the drought with a single, then advanced to second base after a failed pickoff attempt from O'Connor that was ruled as an error. Senior Joe Pesce (Lake Mary, Fla.) followed that up with an RBI base hit to center field that scored Lara,  make it 1-0 Ravens. Two batters later, with two outs and two men on, graduate Brian Hadden (Newburyport, Mass.) advanced the Raven lead to 2-0 as he ripped a single into right field, scoring Pesce.

After a scoreless fifth inning for both sides, the sixth featured what would be the Greyhounds' strongest scoring threat of the afternoon. With one out, Connor Rabias and Jared Bernardino struck back-to-back singles to put runners at first and second. After a strikeout to Cole Durkan, Jack Barry kept the threat alive for Assumption by drawing a walk to load up the bases. That brought up Cody Smith to the plate, who would leave all runners stranded with a strikeout to end the inning.

The Ravens would add an insurance run in the bottom of the 6^th inning. Joel Lara led-off with his second hit of the game, a double to left field. He then added his team leading 22^nd stolen base of the season as he stole third to move further into scoring position. However, with the catcher's throw to third off-target, Lara then trotted his way home on the error to make it a 3-0 game. A quick 1-2-3 inning for Reynolds in the top of the seventh would seal the Game 1 victory, as well as the series victory for the Ravens.

Hunter Reynolds picked up his team leading 4^th complete game of the season, moving to 5-3 overall after pitching a shutout through seven innings of work, allowing four hits with three walks and nine strikeouts. Griffin O'Connor suffered the loss for the Greyhounds, pitching six innings while giving up three earned runs on six hits, striking out four.   

GAME #2

Following a 3-0 win in game one, the shutout bug stuck with the Raven pitching as they shut down Assumption yet again in the night cap, 1-0.

Both Danny Gracia and Kyle Keating pitched absolute gems for their respective teams, as hits and runs came at a premium. From the first pitch of the ball game until the bottom of the third, Ian Battipaglia (Cheshire, Conn.) was the only hitter between both teams to record a hit. That was until Jake Miller(Waltham, Mass.) got behind a first pitch and went yard for a homer to deep left-center field, giving the Ravens a 1-0 lead. It would be the only run in the ball game. 

In the fifth inning, the Greyhounds would make contact for their first hit of the game, spoiling the no-hitter bid for Gracia. However, the Raven senior would finish the day pitching a full seven shutout innings, allowing two hits and two walks with six strikeouts. Brian Hadden came in to relieve Gracia and recorded the six-out save, pitching two innings allowing one hit and a walk, with no runs and one strikeout.  Keating, for the Greyhounds,  settled in after the Miller homer and pitching eight innings, allowing one run on four hits and a walk, striking out a pair on 81 total pitches.

With the series sweep the Ravens improved to 13-3 in conference play and 26-11 overall. Their next series is on the road against rivals Southern New Hampshire which starts Friday, April 28^th at 6 pm.