Fitchburg State Sweeps Framingham State, 4-3/14-4 in MASCAC Opener

Cutler and Lewis lead Falcons to MASCAC opening sweep over Rams

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University baseball team took both ends of a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) doubleheader this evening against the Framingham State Rams by scores of 4-3 and 14-4 at the New England Baseball Complex.    

With the wins, Fitchburg State is now 2-0 on the year in the conference and 7-11 overall, while the Rams slide to 4-12 overall and are 0-2 in the MASCAC.

Fitchburg State 4, Framingham State 3 (Game 1)

Fitchburg State took the lead in the top of the first as sophomore Nathan Littman reached on a fielding miscue, stole second before scoring on a throwing a miscue one batter later for the 1-0 margin.

The Rams grabbed the advantage in the bottom half of the third when Anthony Venuti homered to center to lead off the frame, while Jonathan Chapman followed with home run of his own two hitters later. Kyle Pileski plated Ryan Wardwell with sacrifice fly to left to make the score 3-1.

The Green and Gold regained the lead for good in the top of the sixth as senior Roel Fernandez singled, moved to second on a walk by sophomore Andrew Currie, while senior Brendan Cutler drove in Fernandez and Currie with a double to center before junior Steven Drury Jr. singled in Cutler on a base hit through the right side, resulting in the 4-3 final.

Cutler led the way for the Falcons, going 1-for-3 with double, one run scored and two RBI, while Drury collected one hit, including one run batted in. For Framingham State, Chapman finished 1-for-3 with a homerun, one run scored and one RBI, while Venuti added to the mix, going 1-for-3 with a homerun, one RBI and a run scored.

On the mound, sophomore Tommy Parsons went the distance for the Falcons, yielding three runs on five hits with ten K's, while Zach Kirby took the loss for Framingham State, allowing four runs (3 earned) on four hits and ten strikeouts.

Fitchburg State 14, Framingham State 4 (Game 2)

Senior Robert Lewis III  paced the Falcons game two offense, going 1-for-4 with a grand slam as well as two runs scored and four RBI, while Cutler finished 4-for-5, including a double, two runs scored and one RBI.

For Framingham State, Jake Wardwell hit 2-for-3 with a double, one run scored and an RBI, while Cole Josselyn added two hits, including a double and one run scored.

On the bump, senior Javier Lozada earned the win for Fitchburg State, allowing four runs on eight hits and five K's in five innings of work, while Chris Riga took the loss for the Rams, giving up eight runs (6 earned) on six hits with two K's in 2.1 innings of work.

With the score 3-2, Fitchburg State broke the contest open in the top of the third as Cutler doubled, moved to third on a single by Drury and scored on a bases loaded walk from Lewis. Later in the inning, the Falcons proceeded to load the bases again on singles by Currie, Cutler and Drury before Lewis launched his first collegiate grand slam as the Green and Gold took a 12-3 lead and never looked back.

Fitchburg State (7-11, 2-0 MASCAC) will be back in action on Monday as it the AMCATS of Anna Maria for a 3 p.m. start. Framingham State (4-12, 0-2 MASCAC) will travel to Colby on Sunday for a contest starting 1 p.m.