Falcons Drop Two To Rams In Regular Season Finale

Edged 3-2 in the opener; Suffer 5-1 setback in the nightcap

Framingham, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University softball team dropped a pair of Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) contests to the Rams of Framingham State University, 3-2 in nine innings and 5-1 at the Maple Street Field.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 2, Framingham State 3 (9 inn) (Game One)

Score: Fitchburg State 1, Framingham State 5 (Game Two)

Records: Fitchburg State (13-19, 6-8 MASCAC) | Framingham State (21-15, 10-4 MASCAC)

How It Happened

Game One

Framingham State grabbed the lead in the bottom of the first as senior Megan Downing (Hanson, Mass.) tripled to bring in sophomore Mycala Moody (North Attleboro, Mass.) for the 1-0 advantage before the Rams doubled their margin (2-0) in the fifth when freshman Grace Caughey (Mendon, Mass.) singled to left to bring home sophomore Kristen Dick (Tewksbury, Mass.).

Fitchburg State knotted the score 2-2 in the top half of the sixth when newcomer Cammi Sperling (Rutland, Mass.) plated sophomore McKenzie Lambert (Wilbraham, Mass.) with a single to right, while junior Hayley McCarthy (Lawrence, Mass.) singled to center to score classmate Michelle LeBlanc (Ashburnham, Mass.).

The score remained tied going into the bottom of the ninth when Moody scored on a fielding miscue, to give the Rams a 3-2, game one victory.

Game Two

Framingham State opened the scoring in the bottom of the third as Caughey and senior Bridget McGrail (Worcester, Mass.) connected on RBI singles for the 2-0 lead before the Rams tacked on three more run in the bottom of the fourth on a pair of sacrifice flies from Downing and Caughey, while McGrail added an RBI base hit.

Fitchburg State responded in the top of the fifth when Lambert doubled to center field to bring in junior Maddie Medina (Pelham, N.H.), who had singled earlier in the frame, but that's as close as the Falcons would get as the Rams held on for a 5-1 victory in the night cap.

Inside the Numbers

77th meeting between the two schools on the softball field with the Falcons currently 42-35-0 all-time when taking on the Rams.

Framingham State has won six of the last eight contests against Fitchburg State, including a 6-2/3-0 double header sweep last season at the Maple Street Field. Former Falcon Damari Grossi led the way, collecting two hits and two runs scored.

Lambert paced the Falcons, going 3-for-8 with a double and an RBI, while Sperling added three hits and one RBI.

For the Rams, senior Dayna Marchant (East Bridgewater, Mass.) finished 6-of-8 with four runs scored, while Downing chipped in with two hits, one run scored and three RBI.

In the circle, sophomore Mikayla Harnois (Attleboro, Mass.) and newcomer Taylor Colvin (Lancaster, Mass.) combined for six strikeout in 12.2 innings of work for Fitchburg State, while junior Kelsi Gunarathne (North Providence, R.I.) and senior Jessica Petersen (Norton, Mass.) allowed just three earned runs with 13 K's in the two wins for Framingham State.

Up Next

Falcons conclude their regular season this afternoon and will travel to Westfield State on Wednesday for an opening round MASCAC softball tournament contest at a time to be determined. Rams also conclude their 2018 regular season this afternoon and have clinched the #2 seed in the upcoming MASCAC softball tournament championship and receive a bye into the second round.