RINDGE, NH – Despite an impressive regular season, the Pace University baseball team fell short in the Northeast-10 Championship as they dropped two games in the double-elimination tournament Thursday afternoon. Coming in as the No. 1 seed in the Southwest division, the Blue and Gold failed to move on to the semifinals, falling to No. 2 Franklin Pierce University, 10-2, and then No. 4 Assumption University, 7-4.
Game One
A seven-run fourth inning from the Ravens was enough to hold off the Setters as Franklin Pierce took the win by a final score of 10-2. A Matthew Franco solo home run helped Pace jump out to a one-run lead in the second before the tables turned for the Blue and Gold.
Franklin Pierce evened the game at one the next inning and never looked back as they strung together ten unanswered runs to put the game out of reach. The Setters answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth but at that point, the game was tilted far towards the Ravens side.
Both teams remained quiet in the final three innings as Franklin Pierce came away with a commanding 10-2 victory over the Setters.
Franklin Pierce's Kyle Roche earned the win for the Ravens, tossing 5.1 innings allowing two hits, and two runs while striking out four batters. Batting-wise the Ravens had seven hits compared to Pace's six as it was timely hitting that led to their win. Pace left 11 runners on base in the loss.
Matthew Franco accounted for both Setters' RBIs in the contest going 1-for-2 (1 walk, 1 run) at the plate.
Game Two
Although the Setters leaped out to a 4-0 lead over Assumption, it was the Greyhounds who came out on top 7-4. A four-run rally in the second inning pushed the Setters ahead 4-0, with the majority coming off a three-run homer from Anthony Labita. Early on, it seemed the Blue and Gold would cruise to a win but that was not the case.
The Greyhounds cut into the deficit scoring one run in each of the next two innings. Heading into the fifth, Pace led 4-2 but Assumption continued to put the pressure on.
In the turning point of the game, Assumption had a chance to flip the script with a bases-loaded situation in the top half of the fifth inning. With the golden opportunity, Jack Barry delivered in a massive way sending a home run over the fence for a grand slam. After the round-tripper, the Setters trailed 6-4 moving into the bottom of the fifth.
With their backs against the wall in an elimination game, Pace needed a rally to keep their hopes of back-to-back NE10 Championships alive. However, the Setters were ineffective in the final innings as they did not tally a hit after the fifth. Assumption eventually scored one more run with another home run to put away Pace capturing the victory, 7-4.
Three home runs in the contest were the difference-maker for the Greyhounds. Assumption now moves on to the semifinals of the Northeast-10 Championship after defeating both the No. 1 seeded teams in the conference.
Labita led Pace's offense bringing home three RBIs off his home run. Matthew Rinaldi and Justin Crispino tallied a hit and a run scored in the game.
Pace's NE10 Championship run unfortunately comes to an end.
