Manchester, N.H. (April 24) -- Led by a strong
pitching performance from senior Nick Barese (Braintree,
Mass.) and a three-run homer in the first inning by senior
Ryan Gargan (Byfield, Mass.), the Saint
Anselm baseball team rolled to a 7-2 win over No. 8 ranked Franklin
Pierce on a sunny Thursday afternoon at Sullivan Park.
The Hawks jumped on the board quickly in the opening inning as
Gargan blasted his fifth home run of the year over the right field
fence to score TJ Murphy (Reading, Mass.) and
Nick Moreau (Manchester, N.H.) for the early 3-0
lead. Saint Anselm chased Franklin Pierce starter Tyler
Sykes (Sterling, Mass.) from the game after just 0.1
innings as he was charged with three runs with two hits and one
walk.
The Hawks kept the 3-0 lead until the seventh inning as
Barese scattered just four hits through the first six innings of
play. The Ravens got on the board in the seventh after Matt
Anderson (Medford, Mass.) led off the inning with a
single to center and eventually came home on an RBI double to
center from Tyler Bishop (Milford, N.H.).
Saint Anselm answered in the bottom of the inning with a
four-run outburst, keyed by a two-RBI single up the middle by
Adam Hussey (Danvers, Mass.) that scored
Murphy and TJ Bowler (Pittsfield, Mass.). Gargan
and Eric Baca (Franklin, N.H.) added RBI hits to
round out the Saint Anselm scoring. The Ravens put up a single run
in the ninth off of Saint Anselm reliever David Giarrusso
(Cranston, R.I.) on an RBI single to center by
Jake Christman (Newton, Mass.), but ended the
game on a 6-3 double play ball hit by Derek Ingui
(Sterling, Mass.).
Barese improves to 4-2 on the season with the win as he went
eight innings, scattering nine hits with just one run, one walk and
four strikeouts. Sykes fell to 2-2 overall, while reliever
Alex Szymanski (Londonderry, N.H.) threw 6.1
strong innings in relife of Sykes for the Ravens.
With the loss, the Hawks are now 15-24 overall and 11-15 in the
Northeast-10, while the Ravens fall to 29-11-1 and 14-9-1 in league
play. Saint Anselm returns to action on Saturday as the Hawks host
Southern Connecticut for an NE-10 doubleheader beginning at Noon at
Sullivan Park.
