Fitchburg State Singles Past Elms, 8-7

Mason connects for game-winning RBI single to lift Falcons to fourth consecutive victory

FITCHBURG, Mass. (April 14, 2011) – Freshman David Mason (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) connected for an RBI single in the bottom of the tenth frame to lift the Fitchburg State baseball team to an 8-7 non-conference victory over Elms College this afternoon.

Senior Dave Alexander (Torrington, Conn./Torrington) sparked the Falcons late-inning rally, drawing a leadoff walk to start the frame. Sophomore Cody Bamforth (Vernon, Conn./Rockville) followed with a sacrifice and classmate Matt Zajac (New Hartford, Conn./St. Paul) drew another free pass to put runners on first and second before Mason stepped in and laced a Carlos Camacho (Springfield, Mass./Sabis International) 2-2 pitch to right field for the game-winner. .

Fitchburg State opened the contest with an early lead, using three hits in the third inning to take a 3-0 advantage. Senior Nick Rocheleau (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) collected the big hit of the frame with two-run single to left field, while junior Eric O'Reilly (Gardner, Mass./Gardner) added a RBI base-knock.

Elms responded the very next inning, posting a five spot with three hits and one Fitchburg State error. The Falcons cut the Blazer lead to only one (5-4) in the bottom of the fourth with an unearned run off the bat of Frank Yavorosky (Westminster, Mass./Narragansett), but the Blazers answered again with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth.

In the frame, Elms strung together three hits to take a 7-4 lead, including an RBI double from Donald Morse (Alfred, Maine/Massabesic) and a Zachary Dreher (Naugatuck, Conn./Naugatuck) single to right, but Fitchburg State inched closer in the bottom half as senior John Phelan (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) belted a leadoff homerun and sophomore Jeff Boice (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) scored on a Blazer error to make it a 7-6.

After a pair of silent innings, Fitchburg State knotted the score in the bottom of the ninth as Phelan struck again, this time with an RBI single to right-field. O'Reilly started the rally off with a single to left and pinch runner Michal Mercier (Townsend, Mass./Saint Bernards) scored on Phelan's blast before giving away to Mason's heroics in the tenth.

O'Reilly led Fitchburg State offensively, hitting 4-for-5 in the contest with one RBI, while five other Falcons notched multiple hits. Morse was the lone Elms player with multiple hits, finishing 3-for-5 with one run scored and three RBI.

On the hill, senior Marshall Miller (Greenfield, Mass./Greenfield) earned the victory in relief for Fitchburg State, tossing three scoreless innings and face the nine batter minimum (3 K's). Camahco suffered the loss for the Blazers, yielding just one run on one hit in one inning of work.   

Fitchburg State (11-11, 1-3 MASCAC) returns to action on Saturday as it travels to Bridgewater State at 12 p.m. Elms (9-12, 2-4 NECC) will travel to Mitchell College on Saturday at 12 p.m.