Ravens face Assumption at noon on Sunday

Box Score
Recap: Assumption vs. New Haven

RINDGE, N.H. (May 9, 2009) – Junior right fielder Kevin Rivers (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern) went 2-for-5 with a three-run home run, drove in four runs and scored three times on Saturday night to lead the top-seeded Franklin Pierce University baseball team to an 11-3 victory over New Haven in the Northeast-10 Conference Baseball Championship at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field. After a rain delay of two hours and 18 minutes before the start of the game, Franklin Pierce collected 12 hits to win its second elimination contest of the day.

With the win, Franklin Pierce (35-16) advances to face second-seeded Assumption in the championship round of the Northeast-10 Conference Baseball Championship, which begins at noon on Sunday and will potentially be a doubleheader. A Franklin Pierce win would force a winner-take-all game at 3 p.m., while an Assumption win would give the Greyhounds the title. With the loss, New Haven (22-21) has been eliminated from the championship.

New Haven opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. Sophomore third baseman Tom Rombilus (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) led off with a single to center field, but was erased at second as freshman center fielder Ryan Brockett (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) reached on a fielder’s choice. After a single through the right side by senior second baseman Evan Okon (Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) and a walk to senior catcher Jimmy Rivas (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) loaded the bases, freshman first baseman Cory Carr (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) drew a walk to drive home Brockett with the first run of the game. Junior right fielder Kyle Donnelly (Oneonta, N.Y./Oneonta) followed and bounced into an RBI fielder’s choice to drive home Okon.

Franklin Pierce answered with five runs in the bottom half of the first to take a 5-2 lead. Sophomore designated hitter Derek Ingui (Sterling, Mass./Wachusett Regional) led off with a single back up the middle and moved to second when freshman catcher Mike Dowd (East Bridgewater, Conn./Cardinal Spellman) lined a single to center field. Rivers followed and hit a double the other way into left-center field to score Ingui and move Dowd around to third. From there, back-to-back walks to senior left fielder Ted Lerud (Hampden, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) and graduate student center fielder Cliff Hicks (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack HS) loaded the bases and forced home a run, respectively. Senior first baseman Steve Carr (Nahant, Mass./Lake City CC) then drove in a run with a fielder’s choice and freshman third baseman Ben Benigno (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) capped the scoring with an RBI groundout to second.

The Ravens added three runs in the bottom of the second to push the lead to 8-2. Ingui led off, was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a single to right field by Dowd. Rivers followed and launched a three-run home run, his fifth of the season, well beyond the right-field fence.

Franklin Pierce picked up a run in the bottom of the third to make it a 9-2 game. Benigno led off with a single back through the middle, moved to third on a double down the left-field line by sophomore shortstop Jose Macias (Bronx, N.Y./Monroe College) and scored on an RBI groundout to shortstop by Ingui.

The Ravens added an unearned tally in the bottom of the fourth inning to push the lead to 10-2. Rivers led off and reached second base on a fly ball dropped by the New Haven right fielder. He scored when Lerud followed and knocked an RBI double over the head of the right fielder.

The Ravens added another run in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single to center field by Lerud to push the lead to 11-2. New Haven got one run back to pull within 11-3 on an RBI single to left field by Okon in the top of the seventh inning.

Senior left-hander James Palmer (Stoneham, Mass./Stoneham) started on the mound and picked up the win (5-2) for Franklin Pierce. Over seven innings, he allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits, walked five and struck out three.

Junior right-hander Vince Lehman (Groton, Mass./Groton-Dunstable Regional) started and took the loss (3-6) for New Haven. In one-plus innings on the hill, he was touched up for six runs (five earned) on three hits, walked two and hit a batter.