MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (Feb. 27, 2022) – Despite a home run from freshman Jaden Caballero (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy), the Mercy College baseball team dropped a 5-3 decision to No. 39 Franklin Pierce University on Sunday morning in Myrtle Beach.

The Mavericks (2-6) have dropped four games in a row, while the Ravens (4-1) bounce back from their first loss of the season.

Caballero went 2-for-5 with two RBI and his second home run. Junior Nolan Giblin (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville Dewitt) went 3-for-4 with an RBI and graduate student Robert Wootten (Ardsley, N.Y./Westchester CC) went 2-for-4. Senior Nikko Liguori (Branford, Conn./Franklin Pierce University) went 1-for-3 and junior Ryan Gonzalez (Howell, N.J./Neumann University) went 1-for-4. Freshman Scott Scheppy (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) pitched seven innings with four runs allowed to take the loss.

Franklin Pierce was led by Charles Lebron who went 3-for-3 with three RBI. Danny Gracia pitched a complete game to earn the win.

Mercy took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Liguori reached on an error and scored following a Giblin double to give the Mavericks the lead.

Franklin Pierce took the lead in the bottom of the inning on a two-run single by Lebron, making it 2-1.

The Ravens added a run in the fourth inning on a Ryan Lavelle RBI single to make it 3-1. Mercy evened things up in the fifth inning when Caballero hit a two-run home run to make it 3-3.

Lebron recorded a sacrifice fly in the seventh to give the Ravens a 4-3 lead and Jose Savinon homered in the eighth to put Franklin Pierce up, 5-3. Mercy was unable to score in the ninth inning, giving the Ravens the win.

Mercy had nine hits and one error and Franklin Pierce had 11 hits and three errors.

Head Coach Chris Schoen and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, March 2nd when they host Bloomfield at 3 p.m.