Fitchburg State Earns MASCAC Split With Mass-Maritime

Falcons notch 5-2 victory in game one before falling 7-6 in game two

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. (April 16, 2012) – The Fitchburg State baseball team battled to a MASCAC split with Mass-Maritime this afternoon, earning a 5-2 victory in game one before falling 7-6 in game two.

Fitchburg State 5, Mass-Maritime 2 (Game 1)

Fitchburg State received a complete-game effort from junior Pat Mercier (Townsend, Mass./Saint Bernards) in game one to notch its second league victory of the year, 5-2 over Mass-Maritime.

The Falcons jumped out to a 2-0 second inning lead in the opener on an RBI double by junior A.J. Silberman (Meriden, Conn./Wilcox Tech) and a Patrick McMahon (S. Windsor, Mass./S. Windsor)-scoring single, but Massachusetts Maritime evened matters in the bottom of the frame on freshman Gabrielle Malaki's (San Diego, Calif.) RBI bunt single and a Falcon miscue. 

Junior Matt Zajac's (New Hartford, Conn./Saint Paul Catholic) RBI single in the third gave Fitchburg State the lead for good, and the Falcons tacked on single tallies in the fourth on a run-scoring double by junior Chris Rivera (New Britain, Conn./New Britain) and on junior Cody Bamforth's (Vernon, Conn./Rockville) bunt single in the seventh.

Rivera led a nine-hit Fitchburg State attack in support of Mercier, who allowed an earned run and struck out three to improve to 2-2 on the season.  Sophomore Ben Maher (Plymouth, Mass.) and classmate Bob Lee (Braintree, Mass.) each rapped out two hits as part of an eight-hit attack for the Buccaneers, as freshman Tyler Smith (Bellingham, Mass.) struck out six over six innings to fall to 1-1 on the year.          

Mass-Maritime 7, Fitchburg State 6 (Game 2)

Senior Billy Shouldice (Rutland, Vt.) rapped out three hits and drove in a pair of runs as Mass.-Maritime posted a 7-6 nightcap victory to gain a split with Fitchburg State.

Junior Zach Sullivan (Barnstable, Mass.) gave the host Buccaneers a 3-2 third inning lead with an RBI single, but Fitchburg State evened matters in the fourth on junior Mike Szajner's (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) solo home run, his second of the spring. 

Mass.-Maritime took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth with a four-run rally, as Shouldice's RBI single was followed by a two-run triple off the bat of junior Aram Mulhern (Taunton, Mass.) that gave the hosts a 6-3 lead.  Maher followed with a run scoring single that scored Mulhern, and that tally proved to be the difference in the contest.

The Falcons rallied for three runs in the sixth on a two-run double by Zajac and an RBI single off the bat of junior Randy Ortiz (Danielson, Conn./Killingly). Fitchburg State loaded the bases with two outs in the inning, but Buccaneer sophomore Chris Gallagher (East Sandwich, Mass.) induced a groundout to end the threat, and senior Jared Lowe (Brimfield, Mass.) recorded the final three outs to preserve the Mass.-Maritime triumph.

Freshman Bobby Rosano (North Reading, Mass.) added two hits in the second game victory for the Buccaneers, as freshman Zac Cooney (East Bridgewater, Mass.) earned his second victory of the season, allowing three earned runs and fanning three over five-plus innings. 

Zajac collected two hits and drove in three runs in the second game setback for Fitchburg State, which also received two hits each from McMahon and sophomore David Mason (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) as part of a ten-hit attack.  Senior Frank Yavorosky (Westminster, Mass./Narragansett) suffered the setback for the Falcons, allowing six earned runs and fanning two.

Fitchburg State (8-20, 2-6 MASCAC) returns to action tomorrow when it hosts Fisher College at 4 p.m. Mass-Maritime (10-13, 3-5 MASCAC) will visit Coast Guard Academy on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.