Fitchburg State Holds On Against Anna Maria, 5-4

Mercier tosses eight strong in Falcons sixth victory of the season

FITCHBURG, Mass. (April 10, 2012) – The Fitchburg State baseball team collected its sixth victory of the season as it defeated the visiting AmCats of Anna Maria College 5-4 in non-conference action at Riccards Field this afternoon.  

Trailing 5-1 in the top of the ninth inning, Anna Maria rallied for three consecutive runs and set the game-tying run in scoring position but a diving catch by Fitchburg State's Chris Rivera New Britain, Conn./New Britain) robbed Anna Maria's John Sullivan (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug) of a hit and clinched the victory for the Falcons.

Fitchburg State received a strong outing from its starter Pat Mercier (Townsend, Mass./Saint Bernards) who improved to 1-2 on the season with a strong 8.1 inning effort. Mercier kept Anna Maria off balance all contest, scattering four runs (two earned) and seven hits, while striking out nine and walking none. Junior Tynan Flegg (Calgary, AB/National Sport Academy) picked up the save for the Falcons, tossing 0.2 IP of hitless relief.

Anna Maria jumped out to an early 1-0 lead behind an RBI single from Jeff Scafidi (Worcester, Mass./Burncoat) in the top of the first inning but Fitchburg State strung together a pair of two run innings in the fourth and sixth to grab a three run advantage (4-1). In the fourth, junior AJ Silberman (Meriden, Conn./Wilcox Tech) put the Falcons on the board first, belting an RBI single to left field before sophomore Patrick McMahon (S. Windsor, Mass./S. Windsor) gave Fitchburg State its first lead of the afternoon with an RBI double to left-center.

In the sixth, the Falcons took advantage of two AmCat errors, plating two runs to take a 4-1 lead. Junior Matt Zajac (New Hartford, Conn./Saint Paul Catholic) led off the inning with a double to left center and later scored on Anna Maria's first error or the inning. Silberman scored the Falcons second run of the frame as junior Cody Bamforth (Vernon, Conn./Rockville) drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs.

Junior Justin Hyland (Spencer, Mass./David Prouty) suffered his first loss of the season for the AmCats, yielding nine hits and four runs (two earned) over 5.2 IP. Freshman Brandon Normandin (Oxford, Mass./Bay Path) threw well in relief for Anna Maria, allowing just one run and three hits over 2.1 IP.

On the offensive end, five Falcons registered a multiple hits in the contest, including McMahon's 2-for-4 effort and two RBI (2 SB's), and Silberman's 2-for-4 day with a double, two runs scored and one RBI. Hyland, Scafidi and junior Mike Guarnieri (Wallingford, Conn./Sheehan) combined for four of the Anna Maria seven hits, while sophomore Matt Nelson (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) added a base-knock off the bench.

Fitchburg State (6-16, 1-3 MASCAC) returns to action tomorrow as it hosts WPI at 3:30 p.m. Anna Maria (14-9, 5-1 GNAC) will host Johnson and Wales University tomorrow at 2 p.m.