Franklin Pierce opens Friday
- Updated: February 12, 2026
The New Hampshire college baseball season will begin Friday, when Franklin Pierce faces Goldey-Beacom College at the Cary Invitational in Cary, N.C. The first pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
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The Ravens will take on two opponents in Cary before traveling to Myrtle Beach, S.C., for the Northeast Challenge at The Ripken Experience. Franklin Pierce will open conference play at home on March 14th against Bentley University.
Franklin Pierce was three outs away from advancing to the Division II World Series last season, but gave up the lead to Felecian in the deciding game of the NCAA Division II tournament’s East Super Regional.
“We were top five in homers in the country last year,” Franklin Pierce coach Mike Chambers said. “We’re probably not going to be in that same spot, but I think we can be better offensively in general because we’re going to be a little faster, we’re going to strike out less. We’re going to be a little different in that respect.
“We’re going to steal a lot of bases. We’re going to play good defense and we’re going to try and throw strikes. That’s what it comes down to. I want to put together an offense that’s going to compete everyday instead of relying on four homers to win you a ballgame.”
The Ravens lost five players through the transfer portal, including its top three starters from last season.
“You can’t lose three of your starting arms and not worry about that,” Chambers said. “It’s a lot to lose.
“It’s not ideal, It’s definitely made me rethink some things and how I do things here.”
Chambers said senior John Ruggerio will start on the mound Friday. Ruggerio played for Maryville College in Tennessee last season.
Franklin Pierce has four New Hampshire residents on its roster:
• Sophomore LHP Anthony Paolicelli
Henniker (John Stark Regional)
“He’ll be starting Game 2,” Chambers said. “He was a very talented freshman arm, but we had some talented frontline guys ahead of him (last season). He was able to get a couple starts and learn some things. We changed a couple things with him and he’s looking really good. This is kind of the progression I thought he would make, so it’s not surprising that he’s a starter now. He looks really good. He’s a lefty who throws 90. He’s got all the pitches. He throws strikes. He’s got a good attitude. He’s gonna be good.”
• Sophomore RHP Lane LeClair
Marlborough (Conant)
“Lane would have pitched for us last year, but he got hurt. So he ended up redshirting last year. He came out of high school around mid-80s, but I knew there was going to be more in there. Now he’s like 88 to 90 and he throws a ton of strikes. He would have helped us last year. Unfortunately he had an elbow thing and wasn’t ready. He’s ready now. He’s going to pitch a lot of innings for us. He’ll be one of the first guys we go to out of the pen.”
• Freshman RHP Chase Philibotte
Henniker (John Stark Regional)
“I think Chase will definitely be involved. He’s shown some really good command and he’s throwing the ball right by guys. The radar gun doesn’t read quite like you would expect it to because it looks like it’s 100 coming out of his hand. His ball just takes off. He’s got one of those balls that jumps on you. He’s going to be another guy we rely on coming out of the pen. I expect him to get a good amount of innings and if he throws well they’ll pile up for him.”
• Freshman C Nevin Marsh
Claremont (Stevens)
“It’s hard as a freshman to be a starting catcher in this league. There’s just a lot to it. We have two good catchers who will both play, and he’ll probably be learning from those older guys in the first year, try and get himself better. He’ll catch a lot of bullpens and get a lot of experience that way. He walked on. We don’t get a whole lot of those and usually they’re not guys I keep around unless they have a lot of talent. He’s shown the ability to catch the kids throwing 90-plus. When you see a kid like that you say, ‘Ok, I can work with that and see where it goes.’”
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