MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College baseball team was swept by Franklin Pierce University on Saturday in a Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader played at Gill Stadium.
The Hawks fall to 10-18 on the year, finishing the regular season with a 5-14 record against NE10 teams. Saint Anselm turns its attention to the upcoming NE10 postseason where it will travel to Bentley for a single-elimination Divisional First Round game on Tuesday at a time to be determined.
Franklin Pierce improves to 19-7 overall and to 16-6 against the league. The Ravens hit .362 on the afternoon, rapping eight extra-base hits and playing errorless defense in the field on the way to victory. The pitching staff for the Ravens combined to allow just three earned runs on the afternoon.
GAME ONE – Franklin Pierce 9, Saint Anselm 2
In the nine-inning opener, it was Saint Anselm that got on the scoreboard first. In the bottom of the first inning, a lead-off single by Brady Doran (Stony Brook, N.Y.) preceded a single through the right side by freshman Zack Clough (Newbury, Mass.). The big swing came from junior Kyle Maurice (Exeter, N.H.), whose ground-rule double drove in Doran.
Franklin Pierce tied the game with a lead-off triple in the top of the third that was followed up by a single to left-center field. The Hawks were able to stay out of trouble, keeping the game tied at one following an inning-ending strikeout by sophomore Dylan Bedder (New Providence, N.J.).
A seven-run inning for Franklin Pierce in the top of the fifth put the game out of reach. The Ravens struck out to lead off the inning, but seven consecutive batters reached base and two triples to the deep outfield gaps drove in a total of four runs.
A lead-off single for the Hawks in the bottom of the fifth came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Mike Pierro (North Andover, Mass.), cutting the lead to 8-2. Franklin Pierce tacked on another run in the top of the eighth as a double to right field scored the baserunner from second base.
Bedder struck out eight for the Hawks, but gave up seven earned runs in four-and-a-third innings. Avery Mosseau (Bedford, N.H.) came on in relief, throwing three-and-two-thirds innings before Travis MacMurdo (Tewksbury, Mass.) chipped in with a scoreless inning of work.
A foursome of Franklin Pierce pitchers combined to allow just five hits, striking out four while walking five total batters.
GAME TWO – Franklin Pierce 7, Saint Anselm 1
A four-run second inning for the Ravens got started with a lead-off double down the left field line. With one out, the next three batters reached base and a total of four hits and a Hawks error produced the four-run stanza.
Senior Max Silverman (Westford, Mass.) stroked a double to right-center field, plating Pierro with the first run of game two for the Hawks. Saint Anselm generated just two additional hits for the rest of the game while Franklin Pierce added three more runs in the final two innings.
An error by Saint Anselm allowed the fifth Franklin Pierce run to score and two more runs came across in the top of the seventh inning, the first of which was helped across the plate by another fielding miscue.
Freshman Matthew Michel (Haverhill, Mass.) pitched three innings, giving up six hits and four earned runs. Junior Taylor French (Goffstown, N.H.) struck out three batters in four innings, allowing just one earned run.
Three Ravens pitchers struck out nine batters in the seven-inning affair. Dylan Jones paced Franklin Pierce with three hits in game two.
