BROOKHAVEN, N.Y. -- No. 7 Franklin Pierce came out on the losing end of a pair of pitcher's duels Saturday, dropping 2-1 and 1-0 decisions at Dowling.
Dowling senior right-hander Tyler Badamo, ECC Pitcher of the Year and an All-East Region selection a year ago, stifled the Franklin Pierce offense for the second year in a row. He scattered seven hits over seven-plus innings, walked two, hit a batter and struck out eight, allowing just one unearned run. Badamo induced 11 groundball outs. Rob Corsi took the loss for Franklin Pierce, allowing one run on four hits over three innings.
Dowling opened the scoring on Saturday with a run in the bottom of the third inning when Andrew Abreu scored on an RBI double to left by R.J. Going, a former Raven who manned third base for Franklin Pierce for part of the 2012 campaign. The Golden Lions pushed the lead to 2-0 with an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth.
Franklin Pierce answered with a run in the top of the fifth to cut the gap to 2-1 with an RBI single by Chris LaVorgna. But Badamo kept the Ravens from evening the game from that point forward.
It was more of the same in the second game, as Dowling senior right-hander Tom Bammann needed just 76 pitches to throw a six-hit shutout for his fourth win. Franklin Pierce sophomore right-hander Paul Covelle was the hard-luck loser, allowing one run on four hits over six innings.
The only two extra-base hits Covelle allowed led to the game's only run. Veltre opened the inning with a triple to right and scored as senior designated hitter Ian Schneider followed and clubbed an RBI double to right.
Franklin Pierce had the tying run in scoring position with one out in the sixth and again with two outs in the seventh, but was unable to plate the equalizer.
With the losses, Franklin Pierce falls to 8-4 while Dowling improves to 7-2.
