FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 16, 2014
Southern New Hampshire facing must-win
against Wilmington (Del.) Saturday at 11 a.m.
MANCHESTER N.H. – Second-seeded Franklin Pierce University was eliminated from the 2014 NCAA Division II Baseball East Regional on Friday morning, falling 5-0 to sixth-seeded Felician at Penmen Field on the campus of Southern New Hampshire University.
Host and top seed So. New Hampshire followed with a 6-1 loss to fourth-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas for its first loss of the tournament. The Penmen will next be in action Saturday morning (11:00 a.m.) against third-seeded Wilmington (Del.), which lost to fifth-seeded Dowling in Friday's nightcap at Penmen Field.
It marked the second loss in as many days for Franklin Pierce, which was shut out, 3-0, by Dowling on Thursday. The Ravens' season comes to a close at 35-18, a year removed from a Cary, N.C. College Word Series trip.
#6 FELICIAN 5, #2 FRANKLIN PIERCE 0 | BOX
Felician sophomore first baseman Scott De Jong clubbed a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth and followed with another in the bottom of the eighth on Friday, while junior left-hander Jack Fowler tossed a six-hit shutout, as the Ravens were blanked for the second day in a row.
For Franklin Pierce, an astounding streak of not being shutout in back-to-back games comes to a close. The last time the Ravens' offense came up empty twice in a row was on March 23, 2002, when the team was swept in a doubleheader at Grand Canyon, 9-0 and 5-0.
Fowler and Franklin Pierce senior right-hander Joe Flynn, in the final start of his career, matched zeroes through the first five innings. But the Golden Falcons finally broke through against Flynn with three in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead for good.
The inning started at the top of the order with senior center fielder Gabriel Fellin, who hit a ball deep in the hole at shortstop and wound up with an infield single. With Fellin in motion from first, senior shortstop Aaron Brill was called on to drop down a sacrifice bunt, which he pushed back towards the mound. Flynn's only play was at first, but his throw sailed over the head of sophomore first baseman Matt O'Herron and down the right-field line. Fellin came all the way around to score on the error, while Brill wound up at third base.
With a runner on third and still nobody out, Flynn threw a first-pitch fastball which De Jong squared up and drove to straightaway center field. The shot cleared the fence and landed among the trees just to the left of the 385-foot mark in center for a two-run homer, his team-leading sixth of the season.
Felician tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the bottom half of the eighth. Brill led off the inning and hit a comebacker to Flynn, who again threw errantly to first, this time in the dirt. The ball skipped by O'Herron, which allowed Brill to reach at second. The throwing error spelled the end of Flynn's day, as the Ravens turned to junior right-hander Doug Willey out of the bullpen.
Willey tried to slip a first-pitch fastball past De Jong upon entering, but the result was the same as De Jong's previous plate appearance. This time he turned on the fastball and sent it into the bullpen in left field, his second home run of the day and seventh of the season. Now trailing by five, the Ravens made some noise in the ninth, with three straight two-out singles, but Fowler fanned freshman pinch hitter Adam Routhier to end the game.
Making his final collegiate start, Flynn logged seven-plus innings and threw 87 pitches (63 strikes). He allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits, did not issue a walk, threw a wild pitch, struck out eight and took the loss (5-3).
Fowler took the ball and threw 103 pitches (79 strikes) while going the distance for Felician. He authored a six-hit shutout, walked one and struck out seven on the way to the win (10-2).
Information provided by Franklin Pierce Athletics Communications.
#5 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 6, #1 SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE 1 | BOX
Robert Frank tossed a complete-game four-hitter as St. Thomas Aquinas College staved off elimination on Friday afternoon. He struck out 13 in his complete-game effort while walking just three. Two of So. New Hampshire's four hits came in the first inning as the Penmen scored their only run as a Riley Palmer single plated Manny Cruz.
So. New Hampshire, playing as the visitors, staked themselves to the 1-0 lead in the first frame, before STAC plated three runs to take a 3-1 lead in the bottom half of the third. After Stephen Sunday led off with a single, No. 9 hitter Nick D'Angelo belted a two-run home run to left to make it 2-1. The next batter, Stanley Susana, doubled, and he eventually scored on a bunt single on a squeeze attempt by Rich Baerga.
The Spartans grabbed two more runs in a bottom of the fifth interrupted by rain. Precipitation had started early, but picked up in the bottom of the fifth as reliever Alex Person gave up a leadoff single to D'Angelo and a one-out walk to Kenny Kirshner. At that point, umpires called for the tarp, resulting in the game being delayed for just over an hour.
After play resumed, Ian Searles came on for Person, and nearly got out of the jam that intensified after both runners advanced on a double steal on the first pitch. Rich Baerga grounded out, and Derek Hirsch grounded up the middle, but shortstop Cruz was able to get to hit. His throw to first skipped past first base, allowing two runs to score.
Tim Viehoff took the loss for the Penmen, allowing four hits and three runs in his 2.1 innings of work.
Information Provided by SNHU Athletics Communications.
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