Mass-Maritime Sweeps Fitchburg State, 7-6/7-0
Falcons fall 7-6 in eight innings over game one; fall 7-0 in nightcap
FITCHBURG, Mass. (April 14, 2013) – The Fitchburg State baseball team fell victim to a doubleheader sweep this afternoon as the Buccaneers of Mass-Maritime Academy posted an eight-inning, 7-6 victory in game one and 7-0 shutout in the night cap.
Sophomore righthander T.J. Notarangelo (Foxboro, Mass.) stole the spotlight in the second game, tossing the fifth no-hitter in Mass-Maritime baseball history. Notarangelo became the first hurler to toss a no-hitter for the visiting Buccaneers (7-11, 3-3 MASCAC) since George Scharrenwebber tossed a gem on April 6, 2002 in a 3-0 victory at Westfield State. Notarangelo fanned a pair and overcame four walks while throwing 90 pitches (54 strikes) to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Mass-Maritime provided Notarangelo with all of the run support he would need in the second inning on an RBI double by Rosano and a run-scoring groundout by freshman Michael Lenane (Dorchester, Mass.), and after freshman Jake Petruzzelli’s (Abington, Mass.) RBI double in the third extended the Buccaneer lead to 3-0.
The visitors took control in the middle innings with three more runs in the fourth on a two-run single off the bat of senior Tyler Genereux (Duxbury, Mass.) and another tally in the fifth on Lenane’s RBI single.
In the opener, the Buccaneers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in its first at-bat on RBI singles by Genereux and junior Ben Maher (Plymouth, Mass.), but Fitchburg State got a run back in the bottom of the inning on an error. The Buccaneers countered in the second on a sacrifice fly by junior Bob Lee (Braintree, Mass.) to take a 3-1 advantage, but the Falcons evened matters in the third on an RBI triple by Cody Bamforth (Vernon, Conn.), who scored on a groundout off the bat of junior David Mason (Leominster, Mass.).
The visitors regained a two-run edge in the fourth on RBI singles by Rosano and Genereux, but the hosts again tied things at 5-5 in the fifth on a run-scoring double by Mason, who evened matters on Matt Zajac’s (New Hartford, Conn.) two-out RBI single.
Fitchburg State took a 6-5 lead in the sixth on Bamforth’s run-scoring single, but Mass- Maritime came back to force extra innings in the seventh on senior Zachary Sullivan’s (Barnstable, Mass.) RBI single. The Buccaneers plated the deciding tally in the eighth when senior Aram Mulhern (Taunton, Mass.) drew a lead-off walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Rosano’s RBI single. Freshman Kyle Kennedy (Woodbury, Conn.) pitched a perfect bottom half of the frame to close out four solid relief innings and give the visitors the opening triumph.
Fitchburg State (10-13-1, 1-5 MASCAC) is back in action tomorrow as it hosts Framingham State for a conference doubleheader starting at 12 p.m.