Fitchburg State Soars Past Rivier, 12-0

Drury goes 3-for-4 with three RBI in Falcons non-conference victory

FITCHBURG, Mass. (March, 18, 2014) – Fitchburg State erupted for 12 runs on 12 hits en-route to defeating Rivier University, 12-0 in non-conference  baseball action this afternoon at Pappas Field on the campus of Franklin Pierce University.

Fitchburg State received a strong pitching performance from the junior Ryan Magni (W. Springfield, Mass.), allowing just three hits and ten strikeouts in seven innings of work, while sophomore Nicholas Pica (Hampstead, N.H.) took the loss for the Raiders, yielding four runs (two earned) on five hits with three punchouts.

The Falcons offensive charge was led by freshman Steven Drury, Jr. (Ashburnham, Mass.) who went 3-for-4 at the plate with a triple, two runs scored and three RBI, while junior Clayton Beaulieu (Chicopee, Mass.) aided the offense, hitting 2-for-4 with a pair of singles, a run scored and three RBI.

Sophomore Alan Nahigian (Saugus, Mass) paced Rivier, going 2-for-3 at the dish, while classmate Frederick O'Brien (South Boston, Mass.) added one hit and a stolen base for the Raiders. With the win, Fitchburg State improves to 9-3 overall, while the Raiders fall to 0-8 on the season.

The Falcons opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning as senior David Mason (Leominster, Mass.) crossed the plate on a fielding error and freshman Mike St. John (Rehoboth, Mass.) drove in Drury with a sacrifice fly to centerfield for the early 2-0 lead.

Fitchburg State quickly upped its advantage in the following frame when Beaulieu laced a two run single up the middle to score freshmen Joe Lyons (W. Roxbury, Mass.) and Nathan Littman (Abington, Mass.) to make the score 4-0 after two innings of play.

The Green and Gold would secure the victory, plating seven runs on four hits in the sixth stanza on a bases clearing three run triple off the bat of Drury, a throwing error and an RBI double by Littman, resulting in the 12-0 final.

Fitchburg State (9-3, 0-0 MASCAC) returns to action tomorrow as it visits the Amcats of Anna Maria College for a contest starting at 4 p.m. (Contest will be played at Franklin Pierce University with Anna Maria as the home team) Rivier (0-8, 0-0 GNAC) will travel to Eastern Nazarene on Saturday for a twin billing starting at 12 p.m.