RINDGE, N.H. - The Saint Michael's College baseball team concluded a three-game season series with third-ranked Franklin Pierce University on Monday, falling 16-6 at Pappas Field during Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division play. The Purple Knights are 4-12 overall and 0-5 in the NE-10, while the Ravens improved to 27-2 and 9-1. Franklin Pierce's ranking is according to a pair of national polls.

Junior Matt Feeney (Portsmouth, N.H./Portsmouth) was 2-for-2 with one run and two hit-by-pitches for Saint Michael's, while senior George Buteau (Burlington, Vt./Trinity-Pawling School) finished 2-for-4 with two runs and a double while being hit once by a pitch. First-year Peter Bocchino (Saugus, Mass./The Governor's Academy) went 2-for-3, and sophomore Drew Salk (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) added a pair of hits, including a double. As the first of four pitchers, sophomore Dylan Lavery (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) suffered the loss after allowing six earned runs in four innings.

Senior Matt Walsh (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) was 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBIs for Franklin Pierce, junior Matt O'Herron (Springfield, Mass./Cathedral) went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, and classmate Maxx Sheehan (San Jose, Calif./West Valley) walked twice and scored three times. Junior Paul Covelle (Medford, Mass./Malden Catholic) scattered seven hits during six shutout innings while striking out seven.

The Purple Knights had two on with two out in the opening inning thanks to walks by seniors Nicky Elderton (Shelburne, Vt./Rice Memorial) and Don McGuirl (Warwick, R.I./Saint Sebastian's School), but the early threat ended when Feeney followed with a ground ball into the hole on the right side that struck Elderton for the final out. Feeney was credited with a single on the play.

Franklin Pierce plated three runs in the home half, two of which were unearned, with Walsh's two-run single keying the frame. Lavery rebounded to retire seven straight batters between the first and third innings, setting the Ravens down in order during the second and third. The hosts broke out with five runs on four hits in the fourth before scoring seven more on just three knocks in the fifth. O'Herron's two-run single was the big blow in the fifth.

Senior Will Corkum (Ipswich, Mass./Ipswich) and junior John Mielke (Boxboro, Mass./Acton-Boxboro Regional) combined to retire 12 of the final 17 batters over the last 3.2 innings, and Saint Michael's outscored Franklin Pierce, 6-1, between the sixth and ninth innings. A two-out error and wild pitch led to two Purple Knight runs in the eighth, and four more came home in the final frame, when junior Alex Holt (Framingham, Mass./Marian), sophomore Steven Auger (Hopkinton, N.H./Hopkinton) and first-years Joe Criscuolo (East Haven, Conn./Xavier) and Matt Polletta (Pawling, N.Y./Pawling) all picked up RBIs.

With the Purple Knights' contest against the College of Saint Joseph (Vt.) set for tomorrow now canceled, Saint Michael's plays next when it heads to Saint Anselm College on Wednesday for a 3:30 p.m. game.