Baseball Travels to Lowell, Defeats Riverhawks 5-1

by Amanda Panaro
edited by Casey Williams

Franklin Pierce baseball continued a dominating  week, which included officially qualifying for post-season play, with a third-consecutive victory Sunday.

Hendricks at bat in the fifth, with Ingui on third base and Mike Munoz on second.

On Sunday, the Ravens traveled to LeLacheur Park in Lowell, Massachusetts, where they defeated the University of Massachusetts Lowell Riverhawks, 5-1. The win improved Pierce’s overall record to 31-11-1, and 17-5-1 in the Northeast-10 Conference.

Junior Jose Macias took the mound for the ninth time this season and improved his record to 7-0. Macias retired eleven batters on strikeouts alone, while only allowing four hits through his six innings pitched. This performance also improved his earned run average to 0.89, which places him among the top ten pitches in the nation for Division II.

Macias threw for six innings, struck out 11 and improved to a 0.89 ERA.

Macias converted to pitcher for the Ravens just this season. He said, “The hardest part has been not playing everyday. I have always played shortstop, which means I had to be on the field everyday and this year I just get to pitch and sit the next couple of games until it is my turn to pitch again.”

The Pierce bats also did a job worth recognition, producing fifteen hits that generated five runs. They were led by junior captain Derek Ingui, who had three hits through his five at bats, which included an RBI double in the first inning and a pair of singles later to follow.

Batting in the six spot for the Ravens was freshman Nick LaCroix, who only added to his team-leading RBI count (37) in the top of the sixth, when he crushed a ball deep to right-center field for a stand-up triple that brought Phil Hendricks around to score from first. LaCroix also doubled and came around to score after leading off for Franklin Pierce in the second inning.

Franklin Pierce’s win on the road continued not only their four game winning streak, but combined with Saturday’s performance, placed the Ravens’ pitching staff with 42 strikeouts over the three games.

Macias said, “My goal is winning every game I pitch and helping the team however I can to make it to the World Series and win a championship.”

Franklin Pierce along the third baseline at LeLacheur Park during the national anthem.

Franklin Pierce will host their final two regular-season games May 1 against Adelphi at Pappas Field at 12 and 3 pm.