Cummings pitches Ravens away from elimination for second time this season

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (May 28, 2003) - No. 21 Franklin Pierce advanced to the semifinals of the 2003 NCAA Division II College World Series with a 5-3 victory over No. 9 UC Davis in an elimination game at Paterson Field this afternoon.

Franklin Pierce (32-16) will now face No. 1-ranked University of Tampa tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 p.m. (CT). The Ravens, who posted their program record 32nd victory of the season with today's win, will need to win twice in order to advance to Saturday's National Championship contest. If both loser's bracket teams win tomorrow, the teams would swap opponents, but if Franklin Pierce wins and No. 1 Central Missouri State University (49-7) eliminates its loser's bracket team, the Ravens and Spartans would meet again on Friday at 6:30 p.m. (CT).

"I thought we played great today after we didn't play well the other night," said fifth-year Head Coach Jayson King. "We got great pitching today and we continued to hit the ball very well."

Freshman right-hander Tyler Cummings (South Paris, Maine/Oxford Hills) pitched Franklin Pierce away from elimination for the second time this season as he posted his fifth-straight winning decision. Cummings (8-4), who topped Stonehill College in the second day of the Northeast-10 Conference tournament with the Ravens facing elimination, went the distance today and allowed three earned runs, scattering eight hits with seven strikeouts and no walks in the complete-game effort. The win surpassed the program's single-season mark for wins by a freshman set by Chris Shank in 2000.

"I knew what I had going today in Tyler," said King. "I think his stuff is very tough to hit as his fastball comes with a lot of movement which compliments his slider which was on today."

"Mainly a lot of guys tried to crowd the plate and I was able to work the ball inside on them," said Cummings. "That just made my slider all the more effective."

Also getting in on the record-breaking action today for Franklin Pierce was sophomore catcher Eric Cavers (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills), who doubled twice to match and then surpass the single-season doubles mark with the 17th of the season, breaking teammate Paul McAuliffe's (Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro) previous record set in 2001. Cavers finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI, with his last five base hits at the CWS being doubles.

Senior Mike Callahan (Worcester, Mass./St. Peter Marian) continues to swing a hot bat for Franklin Pierce, finishing 3-4 with a double and run scored. McAuliffe and junior Dante Blancarte (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) each hit 3-5 with an RBI. Blancarte's first inning RBI snapped a nine-game drought for the NE-10's RBI leader.

Senior Julio Marquez (Ceres, Calif.) suffered the loss (7-3) for UC Davis as he was touched for five earned runs on seven hits with a strikeout and no walks in two innings. Classmate Trevor Thornton (Fairfield, Calif.) kept the Aggies close with 6.2 scoreless innings, scattering six hits with three strikeouts.

Sophomore David Butterworth (Davis, Calif.) led the UCD offense, hitting 2-4 with a home run and two RBI. Junior Matt Kamigawachi (Woodland, Calif.) was 2-4 with an RBI, while junior Andrew Reisinger (Sacramento, Calif.) also hit 2-4 with a run scored.

Cavers got the ball rolling for Franklin Pierce as he belted Marquez's first pitch of the day for a double in the gap in left-center. Blancarte drove him home two batters later with a single up the middle.

The Ravens scored four times in the second to open a 5-0 advantage as Callahan led things off with a double to left center. After freshman Mike Chambers (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) singled through the left side, classmate Elliott Shea (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) followed with an RBI single to score Callahan. Shea and freshman Shawn Hayes (Charlton, Mass./Holy Name), who reached on a fielder's choice, advanced into scoring position when Marquez balked, then Cavers drove them home with a ringing double to right-center. McAuliffe followed with a single up the middle to drive home Cavers with the final run of the inning.

The Aggies got back into the game in the third with three runs, all coming after Cummings struck the first two batters out. Reisinger reached on a single in the gap to shortstop, stole second, then scored on a single by Kamigawachi down the rightfield line. Butterworth followed with a two-run blast halfway up the hill beyond the rightfield wall.

UC Davis had a bid to draw within one run in the fifth squashed when rightfielder Dan Close (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) gunned junior Robby Tulk (San Ramon, Calif.) down at the plate to retire the side. Cummings faced just one over the minimum the rest of the day, setting down nine-straight during one stretch.

"When Close threw that runner out at home it was a real confidence boost for me," said Cummings.

Franklin Pierce will put All-America right-hander Matt Weagle (Charlton, Mass./Shephard Hill) on the mound against co-No. 1 ranked Tampa tomorrow. Weagle, who will be going for his program-record matching tenth win of the season and 20th of his career, has won 13 of his last 14 decisions dating back to last season including a complete-game triumph in game one of the College World Series on Saturday.

"We're not thinking about winning a championship," said King. "We came down here looking to win games and if that means a championship, then so be it. I haven't thought much about tomorrow yet, but we've got a great pitcher going and our concentration will be just trying to win tomorrow's game."

 BOX SCORE

Batteries:
FP - Cummings and Cavers
UCD - Marquez, Thornton (3), McKae (9) and Reisinger

WP: Cummings (8-4)
LP: Marquez (7-3)

HR: UCD: Butterworth (11)