Ravens rally for a come-from-behind, nine-inning victory over NYIT in game two on Sunday

Megan Bird had two hits on the day and made two outstanding diving catches down the line to help propel the Ravens to victory over NYIT in game two.

CLERMONT, Fla. (March 18, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce University softball team showed tremendous resiliency on Sunday by rebounding from a tough 11-3 loss to Merrimack to pull out a nine-inning, 7-6 triumph over NYIT in the second contest at the National Training Center in Clermont, Fla. With the win, Franklin Pierce improved to a solid 3-2 on the young season as the Ravens continued to add to one of their best starts in program history.

In the day's second game, Franklin Pierce and NYIT found themselves tied 5-5 following seven innings of play. The Bears, however, quickly pushed a run across in the top of the eighth inning to take a slim 6-5 margin and it seemed Franklin Pierce could be headed for another tough setback.

The Ravens, though, didn't fold and rallied in the bottom half of the frame with a run to send the game to a ninth inning. Franklin Pierce pushed its run across when senior outfielder Jayme Bilafer (Concord, Mass.) singled home pinch runner Nicole Pratt (Gardner, Mass.).

Freshman pitcher Jessica Colson (Feeding Hills, Mass.) held NYIT at bay in the top of the ninth, thus setting the stage for Franklin Pierce's thrilling rally in the bottom of the frame. Franklin Pierce loaded the bases with one out as sophomore Jamie Wiley (Cape Vincent, N.Y.) was on third, senior Rachel Baxter (Cumberland, R.I.) on second and freshman Karissa Forzese (Methuen, Mass.) on first. Freshman Laura Eidam (Stamford, Conn.) stepped to the plate and ripped a hard shot towards the NYIT shortstop, who fought off the charging ball to field it and throw onto home for a potential force out. The throw, though, wasn't in time as Wiley was able to avoid the tag and send the Ravens to victory.

Colson (1-0) pitched the final five innings for the Ravens and yielded just two runs to earn the victory, which was the first of her collegiate career.

The Ravens found themselves trailing 4-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth, but they answered with four runs in the stanza to grab a one-run advantage. Franklin Pierce got four-consecutive hits from junior Megan Bird (Laconia, N.H.), Bilafer, freshman Alicia Dean (Danvers, Mass.) and Wiley. Wiley drove in a pair on her base hit and scored the frame's final run on a suicide squeeze from junior Jessica Furtado (Taunton, Mass.). Dean collected the Ravens other RBI in the inning.

NYIT tied the contest at 5-5 in the sixth to set up the final frantic innings which resulted in the Franklin Pierce victory.

Bird played an important role at the dish for the Ravens, but also came up huge in the field as she made two outstanding sliding catches down the line to hold the Bears from pushing any more runs across.

Franklin Pierce hung tough with Merrimack in the early going of the day's first game before falling by an eight-run margin. Dean doubled home a run in the third inning to knot the score at 1-1, but the Warriors blew it open in the bottom of the frame to pull away for the victory.

Senior Meaghan O'Neal (Littleton, Mass.) plated Pratt with an RBI single in the fourth and Forzese followed later in the stanza with an RBI single, scoring Bird on the play.

Freshman hurler Kaitlyn Johnson (New Boston, N.H.) got the start in the circle and went three innings, but suffered the loss to fall to 2-1 on the season. Sunday's game versus Merrimack was a non-Northeast-10 Conference contest for both teams.

Franklin Pierce is off Monday, but returns to action on Tuesday when the Ravens take on Hillsdale at 1 p.m. and Augustana (S.D.) at 5 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce softball, please visit the team's page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens).