Ravens hit five home runs over course of twinbill

RINDGE, N.H. (April 27, 2014) – Junior catcher Matt Walsh (Plymouth, Mass.) went 3-for-3 with three home runs and drove in seven runs in the second game of a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon to lead the No. 28 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University baseball team to an 11-1 win and a sweep of Bentley in Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division play at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field. Freshman first baseman Adam Routhier (Goffstown, N.H.) and sophomore shortstop Justin Brock (Latham, N.Y.) hit home runs in the first game to highlight a 6-2 Franklin Pierce win.

With the doubleheader sweep, Franklin Pierce improves to 32-14 (17-6 Northeast-10, 12-5 Northeast Division), while Bentley falls to 20-13 (15-6 Northeast-10, 11-4 Northeast Division). The victory -- the team's seventh in a row -- gave the Ravens wins in two of the first three games of their Northeast Division series with Bentley, which had led the division coming into Sunday. The two teams will meet on Sunday, May 4 at 11 a.m. at Pappas Field to wrap up the series.

Elsewhere on Sunday afternoon, Southern New Hampshire split its doubleheader at home against Stonehill. It was the fifth divisional loss for SNHU, which leaves the three teams separated by percentage points at the top of the standings. Franklin Pierce's next game will be when it hosts SNHU in a pivotal game on Tuesday, April 27 at 6 p.m. at Pappas Field.

Bentley took two of three from SNHU earlier in the season, while SNHU has taken the first two from Franklin Pierce. As a result, Bentley has the head-to-head tiebreaker with SNHU, the Penmen hold the tiebreaker with Franklin Pierce and the Ravens have the tiebreaker over Bentley. Looking ahead at the schedules for all three teams in the final week of the regular season, Franklin Pierce now controls its own destiny. The Ravens have four games remaining and winning all four would allow the team to claim its third straight Northeast Division title. In addition to home games against SNHU and Bentley, Franklin Pierce will travel to Saint Michael's for a noon doubleheader on Thursday, May 1.

In the first game, Bentley opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning. Senior third baseman Nate Witkowski led off the inning with a single to center field and moved to second two batters later when senior left fielder Sean Keady worked a seven-pitch walk. With freshman second baseman Burton Deady at the plate, the Falcons put both runners in motion and Deady ripped a single past the third baseman and through the left side of the infield, which allowed Witkowski to score easily. After a flyout for the second out, senior right fielder Tom Nagy hit an apparent inning-ending groundball to shortstop, which Brock could not field cleanly. It appeared he still had time to retire Nagy at first with a good throw, but Brock threw the ball away, which allowed Keady to come around with the second run of the inning.

Franklin Pierce jumped out front for good with four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Walsh led off, ripped a single over the head Witkowski at third to end an 11-pitch at-bat and moved to second on a five-pitch walk to senior designated hitter Marty Dunlap (Dorchester, Mass.). After a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, freshman second baseman Kyle Hood (Arlington, Mass.) lifted a sacrifice fly to center to drive home Walsh. Freshman third baseman Jay Jabs (Schwenksville, Pa.) was next and reached on an error by Deady at second base. Two batters later, Brock made the error hurt by driving a first-pitch fastball the other way and slipping it just over the fence in straightaway right field for a three-run home run, his third of the season.

The Ravens tacked on a run in the bottom of the sixth to push the lead to 5-2. With two outs and the bases empty, Routhier drilled a 2-0 pitch to straightaway center field, which cleared the fence above the 390-foot mark and hit the batter's eye for his first collegiate home run.

Franklin Pierce picked up one more run in the bottom of the eighth to create the 6-2 final. Jabs turned on a 2-0 pitch and scorched a one-hopper which ate up Bentley freshman first baseman Justin Ashworth on what would have been a tough backhand play, but wound up a lead-off single instead. Jabs moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single the other way and through the right side of the infield by senior center fielder Calvin Graves (Boston, Mass.).

Sophomore right-hander Paul Covelle (Medford, Mass.) started on the mound for Franklin Pierce and threw 114 pitches (70 strikes) over the first seven-plus innings, before leaving after he issued a six-pitch walk to start the top of the eighth. He allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits, walked four and struck out six to pick up the win (4-2). Junior right-hander Doug Willey (Shelburne, N.H.) took over with the tying run in the on-deck circle and no outs in the top of the eighth. He struck out Nagy on three pitches and then got junior center fielder Mike Muir to bounce into a 4-6-3, inning-ending double play. In the ninth, now with a four-run lead to work with, Willey allowed a lead-off double and then a single before he retired the next three batters to keep the tying run from coming to the plate and nail down his Conference-leading 12th save of the season.

Junior left-hander Ryan O'Connor took the ball for Bentley coming off of a no-hitter against Saint Anselm a week ago, but surrendered a hit on his second pitch on Sunday. Ultimately, he threw 113 pitches (63 strikes) over 5.2 innings, allowed five runs (two earned) on seven hits, walked three, hit two batters, threw a wild pitch, struck out six and was left with the loss (5-3).

Bentley opened the scoring in the second game as well, with the only run it would score, in the top of the first inning. Keady took a six-pitch walk leading off the game and moved to second on a single to left by Deady. Senior shortstop Will Brennan was next and hit a possible double-play ball to second base, though it would have been an impressive turn by the middle infield. Instead, Franklin Pierce recorded no outs on the play, as Hood's throw to second pulled Brock off the bag, which left the bases loaded with nobody out. An RBI groundout by Nagy drove in Keady, but junior right-hander Brendan O'Rourke (Shrewsbury, Mass.) got Muir to line out to Jabs at third and struck out sophomore catcher Bryan Rocha on five pitches to minimize the damage.

After allowing another hit in the second, O'Rourke settled in and retired 12 straight Falcons from the start of the third through the end of the sixth, before allowing a lead-off, infield single to start the seventh. In the end, O'Rourke threw 112 pitches (72 strikes) over eight innings of work, allowed just the one run on three hits, walked one, threw a wild pitch and piled up eight strikeouts on his way to the win (6-2).

Meanwhile, Walsh and the Ravens put their bats to good use against Bentley junior right-hander Connor Root. The Ravens plated two runs in the bottom of the second to take a 2-1 lead they would never relinquish. Walsh led off the inning, got a 1-2 fastball down the middle and clubbed it approximately 375 feet into the power alley in left-center for a solo home run, his fourth of the season and first of three in the game. Dunlap was next, was hit by the first pitch he saw and then went first-to-third on a hit-and-run, line-drive single to right field by Hood. Jabs followed and lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to drive home Dunlap.

Franklin Pierce picked up two more runs in the bottom of the third to push the lead to 4-1. After a two-out single back up the middle, Razzino stole both second and third, increasing his program single-season record to 43 stolen bases, though the thefts proved unnecessary. Walsh was at the plate again, got another 1-2 pitch to his liking and went to straightaway center field this time. The two-run home run off the batter's eye was his second in as many innings, as well as his fifth of the season.

Walsh also drove home all three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, as the Ravens stretched the lead to 7-1. Graves hit a one-out single to center, stole second and moved to third on a groundout, before Razzino worked a seven-pitch walk and stole second as well. With two men on, Walsh took a 2-2 pitch and drove it over the 365-foot mark in left-center field for a three-run shot, his third home run of the game and sixth of the season.

Franklin Pierce tacked on four more runs against freshman left-hander Ray Rowell in the bottom of the seventh to create the 11-1 final. Brock was hit by a pitch leading off, moved to second on a four-pitch walk to Graves and moved to third two batters later on a single through the left side by Razzino, which left the bases loaded for Walsh, who had a chance to add a grand slam to the one-, two- and three-run home runs he already had in the game. Walsh had a go at a first-pitch fastball and nearly got all of it again, but the pitch got in on his hands just enough to turn it into a routine flyball to left field. Walsh had to settle for a sacrifice fly and his seventh RBI of the game, as Brock came home to score and Graves moved to third. After a wild pitch scored Graves and moved Razzino to second, Dunlap took a four-pitch walk to put runners at first and second with two outs. With both runners in motion on a full count, Hood dumped an RBI single into left-center field to score Razzino. The throw on the play came to third in an attempt to retire Dunlap, but was not in time. Hood took off for second on the throw and Witkowski threw from third to second, but threw the ball away, which allowed Dunlap to score an unearned run to cap the day's scoring.

Root threw 98 pitches (68 strikes) over the first six innings for Bentley. He was touched for seven runs on six hits, walked one, hit a batter, struck out four and took the loss (5-2).

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). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce baseball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).