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The Franklin Pierce University baseball team was selected as the second seed for this week's NCAA Championship East Regional, hosted by Southern New Hampshire at Penmen Field in Manchester, N.H. The Ravens open the double-elimination tournament on Thursday, May 15, against Dowling at 3 p.m. The East Regional's other particpants are top-seeded Southern New Hampshire, third-seeded Wilmington (Del.), fourth-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas and sixth-seeded Felician. The Ravens are six-time NCAA Regional champions (2013, 2010, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2003), defending regional champions and finished the regular season as the Northeast Division co-champions in the Northeast-10 Conference.

Below is our additional coverage of the East Regional, beyond traditional game recaps. Check back throughout the week, as we add previews, highlights and postgame reactions right here.

Friday Evening: Flynn Logs Seven in Finale, Ravens Eliminated by Felician

The Ravens' foray into the 2014 East Regional wound up shorter than expected, as the team was shutout for the second day in a row, this time by Felician, 3-0, in Thursday morning's elimination game. For a full recap, see our game story (here).

The loss marked the end of the collegiate careers of each of Franklin Pierce's five seniors: Calvin Graves, Marty Dunlap, Rob Corsi, Ryan Leach and Joe Flynn. Corsi and Leach did not pitch on Thursday, while Dunlap went 1-for-4 with a single and Graves went 2-for-4 with a double. Flynn took the ball for the Ravens, went seven-plus without issuing a walk and struckout seven.

No postgame reaction and limited highlights on our front. Flynn, who worked through the first five innings without allowing a run, got in a little trouble in the third inning. With a runner on second, he was able to work out of it on this groundout to Kyle Hood at second base.

Thursday Night: O'Rourke Strong in Relief, But Ravens Drop Opener to Dowling

The Ravens ran into a strong pitcher on Thursday afternoon in Dowling's Tyler Badamo, who authored a five-hit shutout with eight strikeouts. Brendan O'Rourke took over for Conor Gleason in the second inning and fired eight solid innings of relief, but the offense was unable to break through against Badamo, as Dowling used a pair of home runs on the way to a 3-0 victory. For a full recap, see our game story (here).

Not much in the way of video work from us on Thursday. No postgame reaction, but we'll try to catch up with a coach on Friday morning before the team's 10 a.m. elimination game against sixth-seeded Felician. Just a pair of highlights, both from Gleason's first-inning work on the mound. Gleason got in trouble early, as he walked the leadoff hitter and surrendered a base hit to quickly put runners at first and second with nobody out. RJ Going, a former Raven, came to the plate for Dowling and Gleason got him to bounce into this 6-4-3 double play.

Now with two outs and a runner on third, Gleason was able to work completely out of the jam with no damage by striking out cleanup hitter Daniel Parisi.

Wednesday Night: Interview with Gleason

Wednesday night marks the eve of the East Regional, as things get fired up on Thursday morning at Penmen Field. SNHU will face Felician at 11 a.m., followed by the Ravens against Dowling at 3 p.m. The team has already made its way to Manchester and practiced on the game field Wednesday afternoon.

As of press time, we're under 20 hours to junior right-hander Conor Gleason's first pitch against the Golden Lions. On Tuesday evening, while the team was still on campus, we talked with Gleason about the honor of taking the ball in the regional opener. We also discussed his start against Stonehill in the Northeast-10 Championship and asked about his approach as he looks to bounce back on Thursday.

Tuesday Night: Interviews with Walsh, Chambers

Tuesday marked Franklin Pierce's final on-campus practice heading into the East Regional, as the team will depart for Manchester on Wednesday morning and hold its official, one-hour practice on Penmen Field early Wednesday afternoon.

On Tuesday, we chatted with both junior catcher and tri-captain Matt Walsh and assistant coach Mike Chambers. We also talked with Thursday's starting pitcher, junior right-hander Conor Gleason, but we'll share that with you on Wednesday, while the team's off doing its thing at SNHU.

Walsh earned his second career All-Northeast-10 First Team honor in 2014, as he bounced back from what he considered a disappointing sophomore campaign in 2013. We asked him about adjustments made both in the offseason and during the season to get back on track, before getting his thoughts on some team-wide things from this spring. We discussed the lineup's approach and how it's changed over the course of the season, as well as what Walsh sees from the pitching staff from his vantage point behind home plate.

Franklin Pierce is making its 10th consecutive NCAA Championship appearance in 2014, and is one of just three programs in the nation with an active streak of 10 seasons or longer. Assistant coach Mike Chambers has been a part of the streak as both a player and as a coach. We talked with him about what its meant to be a part of a program with such strong history, as well as getting his thoughts heading into the East Regional. We spoke with him about the offense's approach at the plate, particularly with two strikes, and also discussed the defense and its positioning, which Chambers has a large role in on gameday.

Monday Night: Interviews with Graves, Weagle

After an off-day Sunday, the Ravens were on the field Monday evening to commence their final preparations prior to Thursday's East Regional opener against Dowling. With under 72 hours remaining until first pitch of the regional title defense, we snagged a pair of interviews.

Here, we talk to senior center fielder and All-Northeast-10 Conference First-Team selection Calvin Graves. He is headed into his fourth straight regional appearance and has been a staple atop the Franklin Pierce lineup for the last two seasons. We chatted with him about his season, his first career home run, the lineup's approach and the keys to the upcoming East Regional.

Also on Monday, we chatted with pitching coach Matt Weagle. The Franklin Pierce pitching staff has had its command troubles in 2014, but also possesses superb strikeout stuff throughout the staff. We talked with Weagle about the approach he encourages his pitchers to take, the bounce-back start he expects to see from Conor Gleason (who we'll talk with later this week) and what he sees as the pitching staff's keys to success this week in Manchester.