Fitchburg State Surges Past Gordon, 11-1

Ortiz hits 3-for-3 in Falcons non-conference victory

FITCHBURG, Mass. (March 26, 2013) – The Fitchburg State baseball team erupted for eleven runs on eleven hits as it defeated Gordon College, 11-1 this evening at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field on the campus of Franklin Pierce University.

Fitchburg State opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning as senior Randy Ortiz, Jr. (Danielson, Conn./Killingly) singled up the middle to plate classmate AJ Silberman (Meriden, Conn./Wilcox Tech) before senior Cody Bamforth (Vernon, Conn./Rockville) reached on a fielding error to drive in sophomore Pierce Hans (Washington Township N.J./Westwood) to take a 2-0 lead.

The Scots cut the lead to one in the fourth frame as freshman Alex Potocki (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield) led off the inning with a single and come around to score on an RBI triple to left center off the bat of sophomore Alex German (Brimfield, Ill./Peoria Christian) to make the score 2-1.

In the fifth inning, the Falcons upped their lead (6-1), keyed by an RBI single from Ortiz and a two-run double by junior David Mason (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) before plating three more runs in the following inning on back-to-back run scoring double by Hans and Ortiz for the 9-1 advantage after six innings of play.

The Green and Gold secured their sixth victory of the season in the bottom of the seventh, taking advantage of a throwing error and an RBI base hit by senior Jeff Boice (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) for the 11-1 margin.

Ortiz led the offense charge for Fitchburg State, going a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish with a double, one run scored and four RBI, while Silberman and Hans each collected two hits and three runs scored. Gordon was paced by Potocki, who collected a pair of singles and one run scored, while German finished with a triple and one RBI.

On the hill, senior Pat Mercier (Townsend, Mass./Saint Bernards) improved to 3-0 on the season, allowing just one earned run on two and five strikeouts in four innings of work for the Falcons, while sophomore Jacob Syed (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) suffered the setback, allowing three runs on four hits in 4.1 IP for Gordon.

Fitchburg State (6-4, 0-0 MASCAC) returns to action tomorrow as it takes on Anna Maria College for a contest starting at 7 p.m. (Game will be played at Franklin Pierce University with Anna Maria as the home team), while Gordon (6-4, 0-0 TCCC) will host Newbury College tomorrow at 3 p.m.