Fitchburg State Falls To Rhode Island College, 2-1/7-3

Falcons fall 2-1 in game one; suffer 7-3 in game two

EAGLE LAKE, Fla. (March 11, 2012) – The Fitchburg State baseball team suffered another set of non-conference setbacks this afternoon, falling to Rhode Island College, 2-1 and 7-3 this afternoon at Lake Region High School.

Rhode Island 2, Fitchburg State 1 (Game 1)

In the opener, both teams received a solid pitching performance from their starters but Rhode Island College squeaked out two unearned runs in the bottom of the second inning to hold on to a 2-1 victory.

The Anchormen got on the board in the second, stringing together three hits and two runs, while taking advantage of a costly Falcon error. With the bases loaded, senior Dan Hopkins (Cranston, R.I./Cranston West) connected for a two-run single to center field to give RIC its two-run advantage.

Fitchburg State inched back, cutting its deficit in half as junior Cody Bamforth (Vernon, Conn./Rockville) led off the fourth inning with a walk and later scored on a Chris Rivera (New Britain, Conn./New Britain) RBI single. But that's as close as the Falcons would come as junior Mike Farias (W. Greenwich, R.I./Exeter-W.G.) kept Fitchburg State off the board for the remainder of the contest.

Farias turned in a complete game, two-hitter for the Anchormen, yielding just one earned run and striking out four. Junior Pat Mercier (Townsend, Mass./Saint Bernards) also hurled a complete game for the Falcons, pitching just as strong with seven scattered hits, two runs allowed (zero earned) and three K's.

Rhode Island 7, Fitchburg State 3 (Game 2)

After battling weather throughout game two, Rhode Island College rallied for four runs over the last two innings to complete the doubleheader sweep with a 7-3 victory. 

The Anchormen grabbed the first lead of the contest in the top of the second inning as Frank Salcedo (Providence, R.I./Wheeler School) connected for an RBI double to centerfield, but Fitchburg State responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning using a solo home run from Jeff Boice (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) and a pair of singles from Mike Szajner (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) and Bamforth to post a 2-1 advantage.

After RIC knotted the score again in the top of the fourth inning (2-2), Fitchburg State was able to manufacture a run in the bottom of the frame, using a successful squeeze from Patrick McMahon (S. Windsor, Conn./S. Windsor) to bring home Matt Zajac (New Hartford, Conn./St. Paul Catholic) who led off the inning with a single.

In a rain soaked sixth inning, RIC rallied back, scoring three runs before the game was halted due to playing conditions. After the break, the Anchormen tacked on one more run in the seventh to complete the sweep.

On the offensive end, Szajner and Bamforth led the Falcons with two hits apiece, while Boice finished 1-for-3 with one run scored and one RBI. Junior Will Dawson (Narragansett, R.I./Narragansett) suffered the loss in relief for the Falcons, squandering three runs (two earned) in an inning of work. Classmate Randy Ortiz, Jr. (Danielson, Conn./Killingly) tossed the first four innings for the Falcons, scattering six hits and two runs, while striking out one.

Fitchburg State (0-4, 0-0 MASCAC) will be back in action tomorrow as it battles Drew College at 9 a.m. Rhode Island College (4-1, 0-0 LEC) will face New Jersey City University tomorrow at 11:30 a.m.