Rindge, N.H. (March 12) -- On Thursday night at Pappas Field, the Assumption College baseball team dropped a narrow 6-5 road non-conference final to No. 9 ranked Franklin Pierce University in the team's first game since its spring break trip to Florida.

Franklin Pierce posted four runs over the first two innings, including a pair of unearned runs in the second. In the opening frame, Jay Jabs drove home the first run as Matthew O'Herron doubled to right center for the team's second run and the 2-0 edge. Jabs continued his solid outing with a two-RBI single to center in the top of the second for a pair of runs off of Assumption starter Steve Flynn (Worcester, Mass./St. Peter-Marian).

The Hounds answered with a single run in the top of the fourth as senior Kelvin Sims (Manchester, Conn./East Catholic) picked up a two-out RBI double to right that scored sophomore Mike Coggeshall (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) for the 4-1 margin. Assumption tied the game up at 4-4 in the top of the fifth, picking up three hits in the inning and taking advantage of a Raven error for the three-run frame. Junior Tom Paine (Upton, Mass./Nipmuc) picked up his first homer of the season with one out to cut the lead to 4-2, followed by a two-RBI double to left center by Coggeshall to tie the game at 4-4 and chase Ravens reliever Paul Fahey from the game.

Franklin Pierce jumped back ahead at 6-4 in the bottom of the fifth as Sheehan led off the inning with a double to center off of freshman pitcher Kyle Chudoba (Oxford, Conn./Oxford) and eventually came home on an error for the 5-4 edge. The Ravens added the next run on an RBI single to center by Matt Walsh to score John Razzino for the decisive run.

Assumption closed to within 6-5 in the top of the ninth as the Hounds kept the game within striking distance due to three straight innings of hitless relief from the Assumption bullpen in the sixth, seventh and eighth frames. In the top of the ninth, junior Michael Panza (West Haven, Conn./Notre Dame) reached on a throwing error by the Raven shortstop to lead off the inning, followed by a Paine single to center to move to send. After two outs for the Hounds, Panza came home on an RBI single to left by Coggeshall to pull Assumption to within just one. Following a two-out walk to load the bases, Ravens reliever Doug Willey struck out the final Assumption batter for his second save of the season and the 6-5 final.

Coggeshall finished the game 3-for-3 with three RBI and two walks, while senior Greg O'Donnell (Northbridge, Mass./Northbridge) and Paine each added a pair of hits. Chudoba took the tough-luck loss in the back-and-forth game, dropping to 1-2 overall on the season after giving up one earned run on two hits in one innings of pitching.

The Hounds fall to 3-10 overall with the loss, while the Ravens remain unbeaten with a 10-0 overall record.

Assumption is back in action on Tuesday, March 17th as the Hounds are slated to travel to American International College for a 3:30 p.m. non-conference start in Springfield, Mass.

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