Fitchburg State Doubles Down WPI, 6-3

Rivera hits 3-for-4 in Falcons second straight victory

FITCHBURG, Mass. (April 11, 2012) – The Fitchburg State baseball team collected its second straight victory as it downed the visiting Engineers of WPI, 6-3 in non-conference action at Riccards Field.

WPI got on the board first in the top of the third inning as the Engineers collected three unearned runs with two hits in the inning. Freshman Steve Petry (Worcester, Mass./St. John's) and sophomore Matt Blakeman (Bedford, N.H./Bishop Guertin) opened the inning with back-to-back hits and a John Flynn (Albion, Maine/Lawrence) walk loaded the bases before all three scored on a Falcon miscue.

Fitchburg State answered with a single run in the bottom of the fifth before scoring a trio of runs in the sixth to post a 4-3 advantage. Juniors Chris Rivera (New Britain, Conn./New Britain) and Cody Bamforth (Vernon, Conn./Rockville) kick started the Falcons rally with a pair of hits, while junior Matt Zajac (New Hartford, Conn./Saint Paul Catholic) cashed in with  two-run double to right center to knot the score. Randy Ortiz, Jr. (Danielson, Conn./Killingly) added to the mix with an RBI walk to put the Falcons up by one.

The Falcons added two more runs with three hits in the seventh, before giving way to junior Tynan Flegg (Calgary, AB/National Sport Academy) for his second save in as many days. Flegg tossed a scoreless ninth, capping off a strong start from classmate Zach Bombria (Bolton, Conn./Bolton). Bombria hurled the first six innings for the Falcons, scattering six hits and three runs (zero earned) while striking out three.

Senior Brandon Boucher (Manchester, N.H./Calvary Christian) suffered the loss for the Engineers, allowing four runs (three earned) on nine hits over five innings of work. Freshman Taylor Landry (Kennebunk, Mass./Kennebunk) worked the sixth and seventh innings for WPI, yielding two runs on three hits and two K's.

On the offensive end, Rivera led the Falcons at the plate, hitting 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Zajac and senior Frank Yavorosky (Westminster, Mass./Narragansett) finished with two hits apiece. Senior Nick Bean (Middleboro, Mass./Middleboro) paced the Engineers with a 3-for-4 afternoon, notching a pair of singles and one double.           

Fitchburg State (7-16, 1-3 MASCAC) returns to action tomorrow as it travels to Elms College at 7:30 p.m. WPI (19-10, 8-4 NEWMAC) will host Wheaton College on Saturday at 12 p.m.