Fitchburg State Hits Past Mass-Maritime

Falcons nip Bucs 4-3 in game one; dominate 12-1 in game two

FITCHBURG, Mass. (April 19, 2010) - The Fitchburg State baseball team tallied a season-sweep of Mass-Maritime Academy this afternoon as the Falcons edged the Bucs, 4-3 in a nine-inning game one and 12-1 in the nightcap.

Fitchburg State 4, Mass-Maritime 3 (9 Innings)

Senior Matt Morrison’s (Beverly, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) two-run double in the top of the ninth inning snapped a 2-2 tie and lifted Fitchburg State to a 4-3 opening game triumph over Mass-Maritime.

The Falcons overcame a 2-0 deficit in the opener by plating the tying tallies in the top of the sixth on a two-run single off the bat of junior Ricky Graham (Walpole, Mass./Walpole). Mass-Maritime had taken an early two run advantage on an error and a sacrifice fly by sophomore William Shouldice (Rutland, Vt./Rutland), but Fitchburg State’s rally in the sixth sent the game to extra frames.

In the top of the ninth, junior Erik DiMauro (Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro) kick-started the Fitchburg State rally, belting a one-out double before Morrison tagged his two-bagger for a 4-2 Falcon lead. The second run proved to be valuable in the bottom of the frame as Maritime  junior Greg Wiggin (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) led off the stanza with a triple and scored on classmate Andrew Saari’s (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) sacrifice fly, but the Falcons kept the tying run off base to close out the frame.

Junior Brian Ware (Beverly, Mass./Beverly) collected two of Fitchburg State’s eight hits in the opening game victory, as senior Marshall Miller (Greenfield, Mass./Greenfield) picked up the win with two innings in relief. Sophomore Michal Mercier (Townsend, Mass./Saint Bernards) went the first seven innings for the Falcons, allowing a pair of unearned runs, while fanning eight.

Wiggin and fellow junior Michael Vargas (Natick, Mass./Natick) each had two of Mass-Maritime’s six hits, while junior Nick Levitre (Grafton, Mass./Grafton) took the loss on the mound. Classmate Corey Murphy (East Wareham, Mass./East Wareham) tossed the first eight innings for the Bucs, earning a no decision with a six hit, three strikeout effort.

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Fitchburg State 12, Mass-Maritime 1

Freshman Alexander Teal (Malden, Mass./Malden) gave Fitchburg State the season-sweep over Mass-Maritime, allowing only one hit over five innings in the Falcons 12-1 nightcap victory.

ANDREW FOSTER

Fitchburg State jumped out to 2-0 second inning lead on a Morrison RBI double and Mass-Maritime error before breaking things open with a six-run fourth inning. Junior Nick Rocheleau (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) supplied the rally with a two-run double, while Ware, John Phelan (Walpole, Mass./Walpole), and Bobby Ewing (South Dennis, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth) notched consecutive run scoring hits.    

Mercier’s two-run triple highlighted a four-run sixth frame for the visitors that closed out their scoring, as the lone Maritime run came in the fifth on an RBI groundout off the bat of junior Will Rodriguez (Lowell, Mass./Lowell).

Junior Andrew Foster (E. Bridgewater, Mass./E. Bridgewater) led the Fitchburg State game two offense, hitting a perfect 4-for-4 with a pair of RBI, while Rocheleau also added three hits and three RBI. Ware and Mercier also notched two hits apiece in support of Teal, who walked only one and picked up his second win of the season for the Falcons.          

Fitchburg State (14-13, 5-5 MASCAC) will be back in action on Tuesday as it travels to Worcester State at 2 p.m. Mass-Maritime (7-16, 2-8 MASCAC) will visit Bridgewater State on Tuesday for a twinbill at 2 p.m.

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