Box Score
RINDGE, N.H. – The No. 1 seeded and 13th ranked Southern Connecticut State University baseball team's Northeast-10 Championship run came to an end Saturday night as the Owls dropped an 8-4 decision to the No. 2 seeded Franklin Pierce Ravens. The two top seeded teams both faced elimination after going 1-1 prior to the game which took place late Saturday evening. Southern took an early lead but couldn't overcome a three-run deficit as their hopes of a Northeast-10 Championship fell short.
Southern recorded the first runs of the game. In the bottom of the first, Kyle Rosadino (Berwyn, Pa.) got hit by a pitch to start the inning. In an attempt to advance the runner to second, Nick DeProspo (Worcester, Mass.) lied down a sacrifice bunt to reach first, however Rosadino was thrown out on the play. DeProspo would reach third shortly after on consecutive wild pitches from the Franklin Pierce pitcher. Ryan Geffert (Plymouth, Pa.) then walked in the next at-bat, leading to a RBI single from #A.J. Rouleau# (Westborough, Mass.). With Geffert on third, designated hitter Eric Schlitter (Guilford, Conn.) connected on another single to left field to put Southern ahead, 2-0.
The Owls lead was shortly lived though as Franklin Pierce put together a five-run second inning to pull ahead by three.
Southern cut the deficit to two in the bottom half of the inning. DeProspo hit a double to the right center field fence to push Rosadino to home plate.
After a scoreless third inning, the Owls added another run in the fourth as Bryan Dorsey (Cheshire, Conn.) hit a deep double to the corner of the left field wall. In the next at-bat, Michael Cleary (West Boylston, Mass.) singled through the right side to bring home Dorsey and make it a one-run game through four innings of play.
Franklin Pierce got on the board in the sixth as they put together two doubles in the inning to increase their lead by three. They added another run in the seventh to go ahead 8-4 and eventually claim the win. Rob Blanc pitched a gem for the Ravens as he entered the game after a third of an inning and threw the remainder of the contest.
The NE-10 Freshman of the Year, Cleary, led the Owls offensively as he went 2-for-4 from the plate with a RBI. Rosadino, DeProspo, Rouleau, Schlitter and Dorsey all tallied a hit each. Steve Landell (Higganum, Conn.) entered the game in the seventh and threw three scoreless innings, allowing just two hits.
Despite the loss, the Owls excelled in the Northeast-10 during the regular season as they finished with a 21-5 conference record to earn their second NE-10 Regular Season Title in school history.
The team returns to the NCAA Division II Championships which will take place on Thursday, May 13.
