Fitchburg State Falls To Lesley And Wesleyan On Day Three

Falcons suffer 13-7 setback to Lesley; fall 5-1 to Wesleyan in game two

CLERMONT, Fla. (March 14, 2012) – The Fitchburg State softball team fell twice on day three of its Clermont, Florida trip, falling 13-7 to Lesley University in game one and 5-1 to Wesleyan (Conn.) in game two.

Lesley 13, Fitchburg State 7 (Game 1)

In game one, Lesley University pounded out 13 runs to cruise to a game one victory over the Falcons.  

The Lynx chipped away at Fitchburg State Allison Cousins (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) before exploding for six runs in the fifth. Sophomore Nicole Mercurio (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield) singled home Jessica Guevara (Nantucket ,Mass./Nantucket), who was hit by a pitch, for a run in the first. Emily Mangiaratti (Amherst, Mass./Amherst) plated Jodee Doka (Sacramento, Calif./Waldorf) and Jenna Fralick (Woburn, Mass./Woburn) before a Gabrielle Brixey (Coalinga, Calif./West Hills) sac fly made it 4-0 an inning later.

The Falcons did not stay quiet however, answering with six of their own in the bottom of the frame. A two-run double from Shannon Fitzgerald (Blackstone, Mass./Blackstone Regional) served as the big blow off reliever Stephanie Vassillion (Warner, N.H./Kearsarge), who came on after four innings of one-run ball from Mercurio, while

Lesley tacked on runs in the sixth and the seventh, with a two-run Guevara triple plating two, as Mary Dembinski (Venice, Fla./Venice) silenced the Falcons over the final two innings to preserve the 13-7 win

Wesleyan 5, Fitchburg State 1 (Game 2)

In the second game, Wesleyan (Conn.) limited Fitchburg State to only run over seven innings of play, clinching the game two victory with five runs in the sixth inning.

Fitchburg State grabbed the first lead of the contest as Marissa Binnall (Fitchburg, Mass./Fitchburg) scored off an Alycia McGrail (N. Brookfield, Mass./N. Brookfield) double in the third inning. Wesleyan's offense remained silent until the sixth inning when the Cardinals exploded for five runs with five hits in the frame. The Falcons threatened in the top of the seventh with three hits from Amanda Whitelaw (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Catholic), Jenna Ribero (Acushnet, Mass./New Bedford) and McGrail, but Wesleyan kept the Falcons off the board to earn the win.

In the circle, freshman Brittany Whiting (Sharon, Mass./Sharon) suffered the loss for the Falcons (0-3), tossing a complete game for Fitchburg State. Whiting finished with five runs allowed, while scattering eight hits and striking out six.

Fitchburg State (1-5, 0-0 MASCAC) will be back in action tomorrow as it battles Heidelberg at 1 p.m. and Bethany (W.V.) at 3 p.m.