Bulldogs Fall Sunday to Franklin Pierce, 9-4
Box Score

RINDGE, N.H. (April 24, 2005) - Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 29 in this week’s Collegiate Baseball magazine Division II poll, erased an early 1-0 deficit with five runs in the bottom of the second en route to building a 9-1 lead before settling for a 9-4 victory over Bryant University in Northeast-10 Conference baseball action at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field this afternoon.

Junior Elliott Shea hit 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored, while classmate Bryan Duplissie was 2-3 with a double, homer and four RBI. Junior Randy Fenton finished with a double and two RBI. Sophomore Vinny Pennell  batted 2-3 with a stolen base and run scored.

Sophomore Daniel Fournier  improved to 4-0, allowing an earned run on five hits with eight strikeouts while walking six over seven innings of work.

Bryant juniors Paul Novakowski and Nick Tucarella  were both 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Tucarella also contributed a double. Classmate Chris Brown was 2-5 with an RBI, while freshmanJason Alexander finished 2-4.

Senior All-American Stephen Sloan took the loss (4-3) as he was hit for eight runs, seven earned, on nine hits with three strikeouts and a walk over 6.1 innings of work.

Bryant struck first with a run in the second as Tucarella led off with a double and scored on a wild pitch. The Ravens struck right back with five in the home half. Duplissie roped an RBI double down the line in left and after the Ravens loaded the bases with a single and a hit batter, Fenton belted a two-run double to the gap in left center to drive in two. Shea capped the rally with a two-run single through the left side.

        Franklin Pierce added a pair in the sixth when juniorShawn Hayes got a sun-aided triple, followed by Duplissie’s Conference-leading ninth homer of the season. The blast moved him into a tie for seventh on the program’s single-season home run list.

        The Ravens added single runs in the seventh and eighth. Duplissie drove in Shea, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, in the seventh and Shea smacked his fourth homer of the year in the eighth. The Bulldogs scratched out three runs off two Franklin Pierce relievers in the ninth. Novakowski, Tucarella and Brown each registered RBI singles.

       Bryant (17-14, 11-8 NE-10) visits Merrimack College on Tuesday.