Falcons Rebound With Doubleheader Sweep of Hamilton On Day Five

Falcons take game one 7-3; Complete sweep with 5-1 decision in nightcap

WINTER HAVEN, FLA. - The Fitchburg State Baseball team rebounded from a slight-skid on day five of its Florida trip, sweeping Hamilton College in a doubleheader Wednesday afternoon. The Falcons outscored their opponent 12-4 throughout the two game set.

Fitchburg State (3-5) wraps up its trip on Thursday when it takes on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for a pair of games starting at 1:30 p.m. Hamilton (0-2) will face Keene State on the same day at 10:00 a.m. in Leesburg, Florida.

Fitchburg State 7, Hamilton 3 (Game 1)

Three Falcons recorded multi-hit games to lead the charge in their 7-3 victory in game one of the double header while sophomore Evan Meleedy earned his first win of the year after 3.1 innings and five strikeouts effort.

Junior Sean Maki's 2-for-3, two RBI game set the pace offensively for the Green & Gold, while freshmen Andrew Curran and Brandon Lefebvre combined to go 4-for-7 at the plate with three RBIs.

After two scoreless frames, the Falcons opened up the score sheet with a four run top of the third. Senior Sam Brown drove in the first run of the game as Maki scored on a defensive miscue. Later in the inning, Curran recorded his first two collegiate RBIs after drilling a double to bring around sophomore Brennan Cuddahy and Brown. The Falcons got their final run of the inning when Lefebvre singled up the middle to score Curran and widen the lead to 4-0.

In the next half inning, Hamilton got some run production itself as a fielding miscue allowed Kenny Collins to reach third base as the lead-off man. With one out, Brett Mele dumped a RBI single into right field, giving his team the first run of the game. Later on, back-to-back RBI singles from Jordan Northrup and Graham McOsker cut the lead to just one (4-3).

After the offenses went dormant again, Fitchburg State added to its lead scoring three runs in the sixth inning as Maki picked up his second hit of the game - a two RBI triple that plated senior Nathan Littman and Lefebvre before Maki scored on the play after a throwing error to extend the Falcons lead to 7-3.

The Falcons relief pitchers closed the book on the game, tossing a one-two-three sixth inning before stranding one Hamilton base runner in the seventh for the 7-3 game one win. 

Seniors Benjamin Chiasson (three innings, 1 walk, four strikeouts) and Tyler Smith (0.2 innings) shut the door in relief, combing to no-hit the Continentals in the final few innings of relief while senior Mike St. John and Littman added a base knock apiece. The Falcons outhit Hamilton 8-5 in game one.

Fitchburg State 5, Hamilton 1 (Game 2)

Fitchburg State scored three in the home-half of the first inning, and never looked back en-route to its first series-sweep of the year by the final score of 5-1 during the nightcap.

After seemingly using his game one appearance as a warmup, Smith recorded his first collegiate complete game in just his second career start, striking out six, walking one, and allowing just one run off seven hits. 

In the bottom of the first, Fitchburg State loaded the bases, starting the game with a walk and two singles to set the stage for Cuddahy. He responded accordingly, poking a single to right field to bring around Littman and Brendan O'Flaherty. With one out in the frame, Brown recorded his second RBI of the day as an error scored Maki from third.

Smith was in a groove early on during game two, setting down the Continentals one-two-three over the next four innings. The Falcons were held scoreless during that span.

In the bottom of the fifth, Fitchburg State got a quick-run as Maki smashed his second homerun of the season for the Green & Gold with two outs in the inning, extending the lead 4-0.

After Hamilton finally got to Smith for a run in the top of the sixth, the Falcons wasted no time getting it back as Andrew Mooney drove in his first RBI of the year, bringing in sophomore Vianchi Pujols on a single to left field.

Hamilton picked up a pair of hits in the top of the seventh, but Smith put the finishing touches on his complete game, inducing a double play ball and a groundout to secure the 5-1 game two final to complete the sweep.

Maki continued his reign from game one, finishing with a game-best 3-for-3 effort at the plate, scoring two runs, and driving in one. He has seven hits in the last three games for the Flock.

St. John picked up his second multi-hit game of the season with his 2-for-3 performance, while four others finished with a base hit for the Falcons as they outhit Hamilton 9-7 in game two.

Release courtesy of Fitchburg State student journalist Kyle Prudhomme

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