FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2015
Ravens Survive and Advance
RINDGE, N.H. - Franklin Pierce survived and advanced to the final day of the NCAA Baseball East Regional, while Southern New Hampshire's and Stonehill's seasons came to an end at Pappas Field on Saturday.
The Ravens defeated the Penmen, 8-2, and the Skyhawks were eliminated by St. Thomas Aquinas in an 8-0 affair. Franklin Pierce will play Wilmington at 1 p.m. with the winner moving on to the East Regional Championship Game against the Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas at 5 p.m.
#1 Franklin Pierce 8, #3 So. New Hampshire 2 | BOX
With the season on the line for both sides in an all Granite State matchup, the offense of the No. 1/3 nationally ranked, top seed and host Franklin Pierce University baseball team broke out in a big way on Friday night, with a 13-hit attack en route to an 8-2 win over No. 20 and third-seeded Southern New Hampshire in an elimination contest on the third day of the NCAA Championship East Regional at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field. Senior catcher Matt Walsh went 2-for-4 and drove in four runs in the win for Franklin Pierce.
With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 48-3 and its season will live to see another day. With the loss, SNHU's season comes to a close at 31-14.
Franklin Pierce -- which has had first-inning success all season -- found its first first-inning run of the weekend on Saturday night with a run in the top of the first. Junior center fielder Maxx Sheehan worked a six-pitch walk leading off, stole second and then scored on an RBI single hit on a line into left field by Walsh.
The Ravens struck for two more two-out runs in the top of the second inning, while chasing SNHU graduate student right-hander David Gibson from the game in the process. With one out, sophomore second baseman Kyle Hood ripped a single into left field and stole second. He would score two batters later when junior shortstop Justin Brock looped an RBI single into shallow right field. Brock then stole both second and third and scored on an RBI single laced back over the mound and out into center field by Sheehan, which chased Gibson from the game.
Sophomore left-hander Mike Robert came on to get the final out of the second and retired the Ravens in order in both the third and fourth. In the meantime, SNHU got one run back in the bottom of the third inning. Junior first baseman Lorenzo Papa led off with a four-pitch walk and went first-to-third on a double pulled inside the bag at third and down the left-field line by junior right fielder Ryan Gendron. Papa then scored on a sacrifice fly lifted deep into the gap in left-center by senior catcher Tyler Fortanascio.
Franklin Pierce got to Robert in the top of the fifth, as it plated a run to reclaim the three-run lead at 4-1. Brock got things started with a line-drive single to right and then stole second again, the third of his four steals on the night. After sophomore third baseman Jay Jabs, Brock moved to third when senior right fielder John Razzino beat out a broken-bat chopper on the left side for an infield hit. With the bases full, Walsh was hit by a pitch to force home Brock from third.
SNHU cut the lead to 4-2 with a run in the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore shortstop Manny Cruz opened the frame with a second-pitch single back through the middle, which got senior right-hander Paul Fahey throwing in the Franklin Pierce bullpen. After sophomore center fielder Carson Helms took a five-pitch walk, senior right-hander Brendan O'Rourke (pictured) was lifted in favor of Fahey, who took over with two on and no outs and immediately created a controversial situation.
Out in front of graduate student designated hitter Mike Montville at 0-1, Fahey induced a towering pop fly back behind the shortstop. As Brock drifted back and started to camp under the ball, home plate umpire David Speranza signaled for the infield fly. Brock was called off by Sheehan in center field, but the latter could not catch the ball and both baserunners took off. There appeared to be disagreement among the teams -- and perhaps the umpires as well -- as to whether or not the infield fly rule had been applied. After a lengthy discussion by the four umpires, Montville was ruled out on the infield fly -- much to the chagrin of the SNHU bench, which protested vehemently -- while Helms advanced to second and Cruz took third on the Sheehan error. Cruz would ultimately score on a passed ball.
The controversy proved moot, as the Franklin Pierce offense tacked on two runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth to create the 8-2 final. In the seventh, Razzino singled through the left side with one out and later went to second while junior first baseman Matt O'Herron reached on an error, and then things got wild from there. Sophomore designated hitter Chris LaVorgna lashed a single to center field and head coach Jayson King waved Razzino around third. Helms charged and uncorked a throw in the general direction of home plate in an attempt to gun down Razzino. In his haste though, Helms put way too much on the throw, as it sailed over the cutoff man, over the catcher and then over the backstop and out of play, which allowed O'Herron to score on the play as well.
In the eighth, Sheehan beat out an infield single with two outs, moved to second on a single to center by Jabs and went to third on a five-pitch walk to Razzino which loaded the bases. Walsh came up with the bases loaded again and cashed in a pair of runs this time with a two-run single into center field.
O'Rourke threw 77 pitches (45 strikes) over five innings, plus two batters in the sixth, on the hill for Franklin Pierce. He ultimately allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits, walked four and struck out six while picking up the win (11-0). Fahey fired 46 pitches (30 strikes) over the final four innings, faced the minimum, did not allow a run, surrendered just one hit, did not issue a walk and struck out four to pick up his first save of the season.
Gibson was the first of five pitchers for SNHU on the night and exited after just 34 pitches (23 strikes) and 1.2 innings. He was charged with three runs on four hits, walked one, struck out four and took the loss (5-3)
#6 St. Thomas Aquinas 8, #2 Stonehill 0 | BOX
The second-seeded Stonehill College baseball team had its run at the NCAA East Regional Tournament ended this afternoon with an 8-0 setback to sixth-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas College at Pappas Field on the campus of host Franklin Pierce University.
The Stonehill offense was led by junior center fielder Chris Hoyt, who went 1-for-3 at the plate with a walk and a single to go with one stolen base. Senior shortstop Dan Fratus and sophomore third baseman Steve Lee also posted 1-for-3 efforts with a walk and a single, while senior catcher Eric Schneider and freshman right fielder Alex Hurley each went 1-for-4.
The Skyhawks struggled on offense largely due to the efforts of St. Thomas Aquinas senior left-hander Nick May, who tossed a 136-pitch complete-game shutout, striking out 11 batters while allowing just five hits.
The first four batters in the Spartans' lineup accounted for eight of the team's 11 hits, while the last four contributed one RBI each. Senior Stanley Susana led the way, going 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI. Junior Nicholas Gargan recorded three singles and scored one run, while freshman Giovanni Dingcong walked, doubled twice and scored a run out of the cleanup spot.
Stonehill senior right-hander Neal Horan struck out five batters over 4.1 innings, but also struggled with his control, issuing five walks and giving up five runs on six hits in a losing effort.
After stranding two runners on base in the bottom of the first, St. Thomas Aquinas jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second despite recording just one hit. Horan retired the first two batters in the inning, before loading the bases with three straight five-pitch walks. Susana came through with a two-out single through the left side of the infield, plating the first two runs of the game.
Stonehill had its chances early, but stranded four runners on base over the first three innings, including three in scoring position. The Skyhawks nearly cut their deficit in half in the fifth, when senior Christian Baglini came up with one out and runners on first and third, sending a pop fly into shallow right field that appeared as if it was going to drop in for a hit, but St. Thomas Aquinas freshman second baseman Joseph Pena made an over-the-shoulder catch before doubling up Hurley at first base to end the inning.
Horan ran into trouble in the bottom of the fifth, giving up a single to Gargan and a double to Dingcong before intentionally walking the next batter to load the bases. After another walk brought in a run, Horan was replaced by sophomore left-hander Jeremy Roberts. The Spartans would plate two additional runs in the inning on an RBI groundout by senior Rich Baerga followed by a wild pitch, as they led 5-0 after five frames.
St. Thomas Aquinas tacked on another run in the sixth on an RBI double by Susana, before capping the scoring with two runs in the eighth.
Information for this release provided by the Athletic Communications staffs at Franklin Pierce and Stonehill.
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