Baseball Falls to Franklin Pierce in NCAA Northeast Regional First Round, 16-2
Box Score
RINDGE, N.H. (May 15, 2008) – Junior second baseman
Kyle Walker (Wantagh, N.Y.) went 3-for-5 with two RBI, but the top-seeded Ravens of Franklin Pierce pounded out 20 hits, including six home runs, and rolled to a 16-2 victory over the Pioneers in NCAA Division II Baseball Northeast Regional action on Thursday morning.
The Pioneers, making their first regional appearance in 23 years, drop to 29-26 with the loss, while the Ravens, ranked 14th in the pingbaseball.com Division II poll and 21st in the Collegiate Baseball magazine rankings, improve to 40-12.
The Ravens jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first, with Matt Anderson ripping a two-run double to right center and Steve Carr following with a two-run home run to right center.
The Pioneers got a run back in the top of the third as
Tim Sylvester (Farmingdale, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch and advanced to second when
Mike Sylvester (Farmingdale, N.Y.) walked. A sacrifice fly to left field moved Sylvester to third, and he scored on Walker's infield single.
Another three Raven runs in the fourth inning, capped by an RBI double to right center by Scott Savastano, pushed Franklin Pierce's lead to 7-1.
Brian Saldana (Deer Park, N.Y.) came on in the fifth in relief of starter
Kevin Gerard (Levittown, N.Y.), and pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth inning, and the Pioneers were able to plate another run in the seventh courtesy of a ground-rule RBI double to right center by Walker, cutting the lead to 7-2.
But the Ravens exploded for eight runs in the seventh inning, as Kevin Rivers roped a two-run double, and Cliff Hicks roped an two-run homer to center field.
Dan Walsh (Centereach, N.Y.) came on in relief of Saldana, and got a fly out to center field, but a Derek Ingui triple to right center plated another run, and Walsh struck Rivers out to end the inning.
Another run by the Ravens in the eighth inning rounded out the scoring.
Gerard took the loss for C.W. Post, throwing four innings and giving up seven runs on nine hits. In addition to Walker,
Mike Sylvester also chipped in with a mulit-hit game, notching two singles in the loss.
Mike Adams earned the win for the Ravens, throwing six innings of three-hit, one-run baseball.
Franklin Pierce will face the loser of today's third game between Caldwell College and Southern Connecticut State University, while C.W. Post will face the loser of today's second game between Dowling College and Bryant University at 11 a.m.