Downey tallies his second-career homerun in game two, batting .400 in the two games
Nunez went 2-for-8 on the day with one RBI and a double. |
EASTON, Mass. (April 21, 2018) – The Stonehill College baseball team dropped a pair of regional Northeast-10 Conference divisional games to Franklin Pierce University Saturday afternoon at Lou Gorman Field with scores of 12-4 and 7-3.
GAME 1 : Stonehill 4 – Franklin Pierce 12
In the top of the first, Franklin Pierce came out strong, as three hits and one error put two runs across for an early 2-0 lead. Stonehill was able to mirror their offensive attack, as four hits tied up the game with two runs, 2-2. With two out and a runner on third, William Kelleher (Mansfield, Massachusetts/Mansfield) singled up the middle for the first RBI of the game, while Isiah Nunez (Brooklyn, New York/Berkshire School) tallied the second with his single to center field.
The Ravens quickly regained the lead and put the gap at six, 8-2, off five hits. With one out, Joe Napolitano singled to left center and J.R. DiSarcina scored easily from third after getting on first on an error. 3-2. Stephen Octave recorded an RBI walk on Patrick Hurley's (Roslindale, Massachusetts/Catholic Memorial) first walk of the game with James Boria scoring from third with the bases loaded. With the bases loaded again, Adam Chase came up to the dish and with two outs, he blasts a grand slam to center field for four unearned runs, extending the lead to six in favor of the Ravens, 8-2.
Franklin Pierce scored another two runs in the third inning with an RBI single from Mike Coggeshall and a RBI walk from Chase, 10-2. Stonehill was quickly retired in each of the next three innings with only one hit allowed in those three innings. In the top of the fifth, another two runs ran across home plate with a double and an error to extend the lead to 10 runs, 12-2.
After some defensive and offensive changes, Stonehill saw a new pitcher for Franklin Pierce and on a fielder's choice from John Orzechowski (Monroe, Connecticut/Masuk), Rob Duarte (Raynham, Massachusetts/Bridgewater-Raynham) scored from third after getting on by the third walk of the game, cutting the deficit to nine, 12-3. Stonehill again
The Ravens tried to put pressure on the Skyhawks in the eighth and ninth innings, however, Stonehill was able to pick up one more run in the bottom of the ninth with a one-out single from Harrison Sabo (Wilton, Connecticut/Wilton) up the middle easily scoring Matthew Rocco (Newington, Connecticut/Newington) who was walked in the lead off spot.
GAME 2: Stonehill 3 – Franklin Pierce 7
Sabo went 4-for-9 with one run scored and an RBI |
Both Jared Brooks (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) and Zach Hurt held the opposite teams to no runs in the first two innings, as Brooks allowed only one hit and Hurt also gave up one. The Ravens took a three-run lead after two shutout innings in the top of the third, as Boria led off with a walk. Stonehill quickly got back-to-back outs, but Coggeshall doubled down the left field line to bring home Boria from second, 1-0. Octave followed with a single and Chase tripled to add two more to the advantage, 3-0.
Franklin Pierce tallied three more hits in the top of the fourth and with two outs Napolitano hit a high fly ball to right field just out of play, giving enough time for DiSarcina to tag up for a sacrifice fly, putting the Ravens up by four, 4-0.
Stonehill shut down Franklin Pierce with three-straight outs, as the Ravens mimicked the Skyhawks defense recording three straight of their own in the fifth inning. Brooks registered another three-straight in the top of the sixth, and Stonehill cut the deficit to one, 4-3, with a three-run homerun to left field from Pat Downey (Cheshire, Connecticut/Xavier), his second-career homerun.
With two unproductive innings, except for Franklin Pierce's active top of the seventh where the Ravens loaded the bases once and were unable to string together hits, Justin Lynch (Shelton, Connecticut/Shelton) allowed only one hit with Brad Roberto singling to center field.
The top of the ninth saw the Ravens driving in three more runs on two hits and one error to extend the lead to four, 7-3, for some safety. Runners were put on first and second with two outs, as Chase walked to load the bases and Tower singled to left field, bringing in Coggeshall and Napolitano. DiSarcina followed with a single of his own easily scoring Chase, who had advanced to third from the previous hit. Stonehill put little pressure on the Ravens in the bottom of the frame as Franklin Pierce put in their closer, Matarazzo and he tallied two strikeouts, one grounder and a single by Tyler Carey (Raynham, Massachusetts/Bridgewater-Raynham) to give the Ravens their third-straight win.
Stonehill (12-16, 5-10 NE10) hosts Franklin Pierce University for the final game of the three-game series tomorrow, Sunday, April 22 for a first pitch at 1:00 p.m. at Lou Gorman Field.
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