SYRACUSE, N.Y. (5/13/23) – It all came down to the wire at Dick Rockwell Field on Saturday afternoon, as the Northeast's No. 2 seeded Franklin Pierce University forced a decisive second game against the Southwest's No. 3 seeded Pace University Setters by winning the afternoon's opener by a score of 12-2. However, with the NE10 Championship on the line, the Setters came alive in the late stages of game two, and handed the Ravens a 9-4 defeat to claim their first ever conference title.

The Ravens complete the conference tournament with a 34-17 (17-7 NE10) record, while Pace ends with a 33-19 (9-11 NE10) record.

GAME #1

After failing to push any runs across in the first inning, the Ravens broke the game open with seven runs on four hits and an error in the bottom of the second to take a commanding 7-0 lead. The first two runs for Pierce would get some assistance from a pair of wild pitches, just before senior Jose Savinon (Brooklyn, N.Y.) made contact for a two-RBI double to left-center field. Two batters later, another Pace wild pitch would put two more runners in scoring position for the Ravens, both of whom would then score on senior Joseph Pesce's (Lake Mary, Fla.) three-run homer to left-center.

Through the first four innings of play, the Pierce defense would limit the Setters to just three hits with four runners left on base. In the bottom portion of the fourth inning, a pair of walks would set the Ravens back up for success, leading to an RBI base hit by senior Jake Miller (Waltham, Mass.) to right field to make it an 8-0 contest. FPU would add another run in the bottom of the fifth inning, thanks to an infield RBI ground-out by center fielder Joel Lara (Boston, Mass.) which scored freshman Joey Acker (Upton, Mass.).

The Ravens would proceed to tack on three more combined runs over the next two innings, beginning with a pair of players crossing home plate as the result of a throwing error by the Setters in the sixth inning. The score was then boosted to 12-0 in the bottom of the seventh, as graduate Brian Hadden (Newburyport, Mass.) drove in one final run with a single up the middle with runners at the corners.

After having been held silent through seven innings, Pace finally grabbed their first set of runs in the top of the eighth, scoring on an RBI groundout by graduate Luke Jacobi and an RBI single to center by first-year Justin Crispino. However, that would be it for Pace, as the Ravens used the early lead to force a decisive game two with the Setters by winning 12-2.

Freshman starting pitcher Drew DeLucia (Medway, Mass.) claimed the win (4-2) after throwing 6.2 scorless innings with only four hits allowed and six strikeouts, exiting the game with a 11-0 lead in the seventh. Senior Ryan Mueller (Lynbrook, N.Y.) and freshman Tommy Sullivan (Plymouth, Mass.) each combined for 2.1 innings of relief work to close out the win, with each recording a strikeout.

GAME #2

In the deciding game of the NE10 Championship, the Ravens nearly battled from behind late in the action, but ultimately ran out of steam against the Setters.

The action opened with two scoreless innings before Pace kickstarted the scoring in the top of the third, as junior Anthony Labita drove in a run with an RBI single to left with two men on. The Setters would then keep the Ravens quiet in the bottom half of the inning, before pulling ahead 3-0 with another pair in the top of the fourth off a Hunter Goldstein RBI double and a Josh Miller RBI sac-fly to center.

Pierce would cut into the Pace lead with one run in the bottom of the fourth with a runner at second and two outs. Delivering the goods was senior Joseph Pesce via a RBI double to the gap in left center, which scored Jake Miller. Both sides would then retire in quick one-two-three succession in the fifth.

In the top of the sixth, with two outs, Pace would extend their lead to 4-1 on a Josh Miller single, which was then turned into a double on account of a Pierce fielding error, which saw graduate Nate Carminucci score as a result of the play. However, it would be in the bottom half of the frame where Pierce would begin climbing back into the action.

The Ravens opened the bottom of the sixth with a pair of hits from Jose Savinon and Brian Hadden to place two runs in scoring position for Jake Miller. With that, Miller plated both with a hard-driven single straight up the middle to shave the Setter lead down to 4-3. Leapfrogging over a scoreless seventh, the Ravens would pull even in the bottom of the eighth on a Hunter Paquette (North Walpole, Mass.) double to center field, scoring baserunner Joey Acker to tie it up at 4-4. However, the next half inning would be nothing short of a nightmare scenario for the Ravens.

Pace pulled back ahead by five runs, their largest lead of the afternoon, all off of scoring singles to various spots in the outfield. As a result, the deficit would prove costly for the Ravens, and would give the Setters their first NE10 Championship victory in program history.  

Junior Tyler McDonald (Haverhill, Mass.) took the mound as the starter in game two for the Ravens, and tossed three innings with three runs allowed on four hits and one walk, striking out two. Sean Foody (Tappan, N.Y.), Kyle Salvati (Mount Sinai, N.Y.), Kyle Roche (Braintree, Mass.) and Brian Hadden all additionally saw time on the mound in the effort, combining for six runs allowed on five hits and six walks. Salvati, who took the loss for the Ravens (0-1), fanned three during his time on the mound.

Robert Gilchrist was the winning pitcher for the Setters (4-0), as he split duties with Brendan McCann for the victory.

Baseball at Franklin Pierce may not be done just yet, however, as they await a potential spot in the upcoming NCAA East Regional Tournament. Pace receives an automatic bid into the bracket as the NE10 Champion.