by Amanda Panaro
edited by Casey Williams

The pitchers stole the show this past weekend as the Franklin Pierce baseball team opened their season with four wins and one loss, while allowing only seven runs total.

Senior Captain Derek Ingui said, “all fives games we got really quality pitching all the way through each game.” Ingui along with sophomore catcher Mike Dowd were selected as East Region Preseason All-Americans by the American Baseball Coaches Association.

Head Coach Jayson King said, “pitching is going to be one of our strongest points, but one through nine (hitters) are all also going to do a good job for us.”

The Ravens began their season behind the pitching of former Northeast Region Pitcher of the year Mike Adams who threw for six innings. The first game, played at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field, was a combination of below-freezing temperatures and a harsh wind whipping in from Pearly Pond. In front of a very limited number of fans the Ravens defeated the Warriors of Nyack College by a score of 11-3. In addition to the 13 stolen bases, Dowd crushed a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth.

The following day was a similar display, but with better weather and more fans. The Ravens took the first game, winning 4-0. Junior Jose Macias threw for 8.1 innings while striking out 13 batters, and leaving the Warriors with a .107 batting average on the day.

Following the performance of Macias was freshman Joe Flynn, who also threw for eight innings while allowing only one run. Franklin Pierce’s 11-run offense was fueled by Junior transfer Mike Munoz who hit his first home run as a Raven, while going 3-5 on the day with 4 runs batted in. He ended the weekend with a .500 batting average.

After playing two games Saturday, the team was given an hour to shower and get back to the bus to travel to Adelphi for another double header to begin the next day.

Dowd said the hardest part of weekends like this opening one, is keeping the team focused. “Guys are tired after playing so many games in just a few days and keeping that same intensity is the hardest part.”

On Sunday the Ravens fell 2-0 for their first loss of the season against the Adelphi Panthers. King said, “the first game we got off to a bad start. In general, the hitters were more focused the second game and a couple guys made adjustments to their swing.”

Graduate student Sean Keeler threw for 4.2 innings in the last game of the weekend and allowed only one run. The Ravens tallied nine runs, coming off a combination of ten hits and nine walks. Adding to stellar hitting performances from Dowd, Munoz, and Ingui, was transfer Phil Hendricks who ended the five games with a .375 batting average.

King particularly noted the strength of not only his starting pitchers, but the performance of Rob Nicholas as well, who he called “the best closer in the league last year.” Nicholas threw for a total of 3 innings, and picked up a save on the weekend.

Thursday morning the team will travel to Florida to play twelve games over their spring break. Looking ahead to these games, Ingui said, “we need to make sure we come out with intensity every game, especially in Florida. You have to come out the best you can and be ready to play.”