BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 RINDGE, N.H. – One big inning in each game proved to be the difference as the University of New Haven baseball was swept in a doubleheader at No. 30 Franklin Pierce on Sunday afternoon. The Ravens took the twin bill by scores of 18-9 and 15-6.
 
After the sweep, New Haven stands at 16-8 on the season, while Franklin Pierce, nationally ranked by the latest Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll, improves to 22-9. Northeast-10 cross-division games are not included in the NE-10 standings.
 
Tim Geer (Derby, Conn./Derby) and Andrew Johnson (Branford, Conn./Branford / Wheaton) each drove in three runs for the Chargers, while Nick Nunziato (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) accumulated four hits in the twin bill. Stephen Clout (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern), Kyle Cullen (Dumont, N.J./Dumont) and Chris DeMorais (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) had three hits apiece. Clout, DeMorais and Brendan O’Reilly each knocked in a pair of runs.
 
Game 1
The Chargers started the day’s scoring in the top of the first inning on a Clout leadoff triple and a RBI groundout from DeMorais, but the Ravens answered in their half of the frame with an unearned run. The home team then claimed the lead in its next trip to the plate on another unearned tally.
 
A one-out walk for O’Reilly started the New Haven offense in the top of the third inning and DeMorais followed with a double to put runners on second and third base. A passed ball allowed O’Reilly to score and Johnson pushed DeMorais across with a sacrifice fly that put the Chargers on top, 3-2.
 
However, the Ravens hung 12 runs on the board in the bottom of the stanza. A two-run homer from Zach Mathieu started the scoring, and a two-RBI double from the big first baseman followed in the inning along with eight other runs crossing the plate as Franklin Pierce staked itself to a 14-3 advantage.
 
The Chargers pushed a run across in the sixth inning on a Cullen RBI single and scored a pair in the eighth courtesy of an unearned run and an RBI base-hit by O’Reilly, but the Ravens also hung several more crooked numbers as the score stood at 18-6 entering the final frame.
 
TJ Riccio (Port Jeff Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) walked to begin the Chargers’ last trip at-bat, and JP Koulotouros (Bayside, N.Y./Bayside) was hit by a pitch with one out. The next batter was Nunziato, who was also plunked to load the bases. Now with two outs, Geer ripped a bases-clearing double down the right field line to pick up three RBI and run the score to its final of 18-9.
 
Frank Vilacha (Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth) started and took the loss on the mound, falling to 3-1. Brian Caselli (Stratford, Conn./Stratford) worked the middle four innings and Connor Moriarty (Branford, Conn./Branford) retired all six batters he faced with four strikeouts to finish the outing on the hill.
 
Ryan Leach got the win to even his record at 3-3.
 
Game 2
The Ravens got on the board first in the nightcap with a run in the bottom of the second inning before the Chargers knotted the score at 1-1 in the fourth. Cullen doubled with one out to jump-start the offense and O’Reilly brought him around with an RBI single.
 
In the home half of the fourth, however, Franklin Pierce erupted for nine runs to build a 10-1 cushion.
 
The Chargers cut into the lead in the sixth inning on a DeMorais RBI and a two-run base-knock from Johnson, but the Ravens responded in kind with three tallies of their own in the bottom half. Franklin Pierce added two more runs in the seventh to carry a 15-4 lead into the ninth.
 
Once again, New Haven struck in its last trip to the plate. Johnson was hit by a pitch and replaced by pinch runner Alex Palmieri (West Haven, Conn./West Haven), and Nunziato singled. After a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, Clout sent a two-run double down the left field line to cut the margin to its final of 15-6.
 
Joey Royer (Westbrook, Maine/Cheverus) took the loss – his first decision of 2013. He was relieved by John Melville (Ulster Park, N.Y./Kingston) and Jason Lewicki (Milford, Conn./Foran).
 
Brendan O’Rouke moved to 3-0 with the win for Franklin Pierce.
 
The Chargers begin a four-game homestand and a string of nine consecutive Northeast-10 Southwest Division contests on Wednesday, April 10 with a visit from Pace. New Haven, which topped the Setters by a 4-1 count on March 27 in Pleasantville, are 4-1 in the NE-10 Southwest. First pitch from Frank Vieira Field is slated for 3:30 p.m.