RINDGE, N.H. (5/5/23) - A combination a timely hitting and solid pitching pushed the Franklin Pierce University baseball team past American International, 4-3, in the Northeast-10 weekend series opener at Pappas Field on Friday night.

With the victory, the Ravens improve to 28-14 (15-6 NE10) overall on the season, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 22-21 (12-9 NE10) overall with the loss.

Pierce would snag the game's first run in the bottom of the first inning with a runner at third and two outs. Senior Jose Savinon (Brooklyn, N.Y.) took care of the rest with an RBI double into left field, giving the Ravens the early 1-0 edge.

Defensively, the first three innings belonged solely to junior starter Kyle Roche (Braintee, Mass.), who retired the first seven batters faced including a three strikeout first inning, fanning five AIC players in total. As a result, the Pierce lead would remain the same up until the bottom of the third, where Savinon collected his second RBI of the game with a sacrifice ground-out to the shortstop, making it 2-0 Ravens. With a runner still in scoring position, graduate Brian Hadden (Newburyport, Mass.) then followed it up with a third run across home plate on an infield base hit.

The Yellow Jackets responded in the next half inning, scoring their first of the evening on a solo homer to right field by Kiernan Caffrey. The score would remain unchanged through the fifth inning, before another AIC homer from Jackson Haker brought the action to a 3-3 standoff in top of the sixth.

The Ravens took back the lead in the seventh inning after taking advantage of an AIC throwing error that saw runners placed at second and third with no outs. Freshman infielder Thomas Dillon (Sudbury, Mass.) then scored the go-ahead run for the Ravens with a sacrifice fly-out to left field.  

AIC made sure things were uncomfortable in the ninth inning for Pierce, loading the bases on two walks with the third batter getting hit by a pitch. As the reliever midway through the frame, freshman pitcher Drew DeLucia (Medway, Mass.) played the hero for Pierce, retiring the final two batters both by way of strikeouts to earn the save and the 4-3 win for the hosts.

In total, Roche completed the winning effort after seven innings pitched, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks with eight strikeouts to improve to 8-1 on the season. Junior right-hander Tyler McDonald (Haverhill, Mass.) also saw time on the mound for the Ravens, striking out one batter with two walks and a hit allowed through 1.1 innings of relief work. DeLucia closed it out with no runs allowed and two strikeouts, hitting one batter with a stray pitch.

The weekend action continues with a doubleheader between the Ravens and Yellow Jackets tomorrow (5/6) afternoon, with a game one start at Noon.