Recap by Director of Athletic Communications Luke Tracy 

RINDGE, N.H. (5/9/2024) – Franklin Pierce baseball capitalized on a slew of mistakes Thursday afternoon to cruise by the Pace University Setters 10-2 in the second round of the NE10 playoffs. A rowdy top of the fourth inning filled with walks and wild pitches pushed the Ravens to a lead the Setters couldn't claw back from.

Score: Franklin Pierce 10, Pace 2
Records: Franklin Pierce 27-16 (18-9, NE10) Pace 28-19 (17-10, NE10)
Location: Pappas Field, Franklin Pierce University, Rindge, New Hampshire
Date: Thursday, May 9, 2024 

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Pace scored the first run of the game off a solo run dinger from DH Matt Franco to make it 1-0 through two innings.
• Franklin Pierce responded during their next at bat with a game tying run off a wild pitch sent Kio (Boston, MA) across home plate.
• Later in the fourth inning, a Pace defensive implosion led to a Pierce offensive explosion. A single from Colin Hoffman (Longmeadow, Ma), walk from Chris Roberti (New Fairfield, CT) and bunt that beat the throw by Julien Monks (Pace, France) loaded the bases. The disastrous start was followed by back-to-back walks which gave the Ravens a free 3-1 lead. After a mound change from the Setters, the relief pitcher turned things around for an out, but then drilled Kio Lugo with a pitch allowing a third Raven to cross the plate scotch free, 4-1. One batter later, a wild pitch sent Acker cruising across home plate, 5-1. Hunter Wilichoski (Hamilton, MA) and Hoffman closed out the inning with a pair of hits that tallied three more runs to extend the lead to 8-1.  
• In the top of the sixth inning, flashbacks of the fourth made an appearance after Lugo, who was the first batter of the inning was hit by a pitch. Nolan DeAndrade (Bridgewater, MA) helped him shake it off with a two RBI homer to boost the Pierce lead to 10-1.
• A sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth gave the Setters their second run of the game but stellar pitching from the Ravens kept the opposition silent for the remaining three innings.
• Kyle Roche (Braintree, MA) improved to 8-4 on the mound after he tallied four strikeouts through five innings. Kyle Salvati closed out the final two innings of the game with three strikeouts and zero earned runs in the save.

NEXT FOR THE RAVENS: The Ravens now move to the winner's bracket of the double elimination playoff weekend. They will face the University of New Haven Chargers on Friday morning at 11:00 AM.