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| Photo Credit: Franklin Pierce Athletics |
Ideally, Dowling would’ve avoided playing No. 1 ranked Franklin Pierce until the championship game of the tournament. Instead they will be playing them in the loser’s bracket in just the second game.
After getting shutout yesterday by St. Thomas Aquinas, they are now 46-3 on the season. It was their first loss since March 25–27 games ago.
Where are they from?
Franklin Pierce University is in Rindge, NH. They play in the Northeast-10 conference.
How do they match up talent wise?
They are pretty loaded to say the least. The team AVG is .320 with a .395 OBP and .463 SLG. That is essentially a team of Albert Pujols’ circa 2004.
Four players have more than 60 hits and five players have scored more than 40 runs. Four players have driven in more than 40 runs. To put that in perspective, Dowling has one player with 50 hits, zero players have scored more than 30 runs and zero players have driven in more than 30 runs. That is a true testament to Dowling’s ability to pitch and play as a team.
From an individual standpoint, watch out for Jay Jabs. The sophomore is the reigning Northeast-10 Player of the Year. He has 13 home runs and 50 RBI and has stolen 23 bases in 25 tries.
He is really the only true power threat in the lineup but they do play like the 1985 Cardinals in that everyone can steal. They led the NCAA in stolen bases with 204 or 4.16 per game.
John Razzino leads the team with 45 in 49 tries. Maxx Sheehan has 29 in 30 tries and Chris LaVorghna has 28 in 35 tries.
Dan Parisi will have a tall order in stopping the running game.
The pitching is equally scary.
Mike Lundin leads the pitching staff with 82 IP, he is 8-1 with two saves, four CGs and a 2.08 ERA. He has struck out 92 against 17 walks.
There’s no drop off after that–Brendan O’Rourke is 10-0 with one save in 70.0 IP, he has a 0.77 ERA and has allowed only 39 hits. He has struck out 87.
Miles Sheehan is 6-0 in 53 IP and has allowed only two ER (0.34 ERA). He has struck out 47 against eight BBs.
Absurdity is one word that comes to mind when glancing at those numbers.
Who Wins?
It will be hard to envision Franklin Pierce losing two games in a row.
