Ravens visit Adelphi for doubleheader on Saturday

LOWELL, Mass. (April 29, 2011) – Junior shortstop Cam Kneeland keyed a seven-run second inning with a grand slam on Friday afternoon to lead No. 28 nationally ranked Massachusetts Lowell to a 12-2 victory over the No. 7/10 Franklin Pierce University baseball team in Northeast-10 Conference play at LeLacheur Park. Six of the seven runs in the inning were unearned.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 33-8 (17-4 Northeast-10), while Massachusetts Lowell improves to 32-7 (15-5 Northeast-10). The loss halts a seven-game winning streak for Franklin Pierce, which remains a game, plus percentage points, in front of Southern Connecticut State (15-4-1 Northeast-10) at the top of the conference standings. SCSU, in turn, is percentage points in front of Lowell. All three teams have Northeast-10 doubleheaders on Saturday: Franklin Pierce visits Adelphi, SCSU hosts Southern New Hampshire and Lowell hosts American International.

Things came undone in a hurry for Franklin Pierce on Friday, as Massachusetts Lowell struck for seven runs, though only one earned thanks to a pair of Ravens errors, in the bottom of the second inning. The rally started with two outs and nobody on, as sophomore designated hitter Pat Devlin worked a walk, stole second and wound up at third on the play as the throw from Franklin Pierce junior catcher Mike Dowd (East Bridgewater, Mass.) sailed into center field. Devlin would score when freshman right fielder Dylan Flynn followed and dumped an RBI single into right-center field to open the scoring.

From there, it looked like Franklin Pierce would get out of the inning, as senior second baseman Connor Burnham attempted to bunt for a base hit down the third-base line. Ravens junior third baseman Isaac Wenrich (Westlawn, Pa.) fielded the ball cleanly but threw the ball away, which allowed the inning to continue and the River Hawks to capitalize. Junior center fielder Matt Jacobs was hit by a pitch to load the bases and senior left fielder Sean Burns hit an RBI infield single deep in the hole on the right side to make it 2-0 and keep the bases loaded for Kneeland. The River Hawk shortstop worked the count full and clubbed his team-leading sixth home run of the season, a grand slam, over the fence in left field.

Junior first baseman Mark Sanborn added an RBI single later in the inning to complete the barrage, as Lowell sent 12 men to the plate in the inning. From there, the rest of the game was largely academic. Lowell added a run in the third when Burnham singled and scored on an RBI single by Burns before Franklin Pierce got on the board in the fifth when Wenrich doubled and eventually scored on a wild pitch.

The River Hawks got the run back and added two more in a three-run bottom of the fifth that extended the lead to 11-1. Sanborn drove in his second run of the game with a single, while Flynn hit a two-run single to drive in his second and third runs of the game.

The teams traded runs in the sixth inning to create the 12-2 final. In the top of the inning, Dowd walked and eventually scored on an RBI groundout by sophomore left fielder Nick LaCroix (Grafton, Mass.). In the home half of the frame, Jacobs led off with a double and later scored on an RBI single by junior catcher Rob Noe.

Junior left-hander Brian Maloney (Brockton, Mass.) started and took the loss (7-2) on the mound for Franklin Pierce. Over just 1.2 innings, he was touched up for seven runs (one earned) on six hits, walked three, hit a batter and struck out two.

Sophomore right-hander Taylor Robinson took the ball and picked up the win (7-1) for Massachusetts Lowell. Over seven innings on the rubber, he allowed two runs on seven hits, walked three and struck out six.

The Ravens return to the field on Saturday, April 30, when they travel to Adelphi for a Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for noon at William J. Bonomo Memorial Field in Garden City, N.Y.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics).