Fitchburg State Edged 5-4 by Springfield College

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Fitchburg State baseball team was edged 5-4 by Springfield College in non-conference action Tuesday afternoon. With the win, the Pride have now rattled off three-straight victories, and boast a record of 6-2-1 overall, while the Falcons fall to 3-8 on the year.

Freshman Brandon Drabinski (Lisbon, Conn.) racked up a game-high two RBI and sophomore Kyle Naples (Kensington, Conn.) had a strong outing on the mound en route to the Springfield College baseball team defeating Fitchburg State, 5-4, on Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action at Berry-Allen Field.

Naples pitched 5.0 strong innings, giving up just three hits and two runs while also striking out three to earn his first victory of the season. Sophomore Ken Manero (Hudson, Mass.) came on in relief to pitch 1.2 innings, while Mitchell Goldman (Uxbridge, Mass.) picked up a seven-out save, including fanning the Falcons' final batter of the game.

Sophomore Nathan Littman (Abington, Mass.) and senior Brendan Cutler (Clinton, Mass.) each collected a pair of hits, while junior Steven Drury Jr. (Leominster, Mass.), senior Robert Lewis III (Palm Coast, Fla.), and freshman Riley Shea (Centerville, Mass.) each drove in a run.

For Fitchburg State, junior Andrew Lessard (Peabody, Mass.) got the nod and pitched 4.0 innings, giving up five hits and two runs, while classmate Tom Gammell (Mattapoisett, Mass.) came on to pitch 3.0 innings, giving up three hits and three runs.

Along with Drabinski, sophomore Kyle Allen (Westerly, R.I.) had a pair of doubles on the day, and added an RBI to his season total, while the Pride had eight hits on the day.

Springfield took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, when Billy Peterson (West Wareham, Mass.) led off with a walk, before he stole second, and was pushed to third on a single from Corey Wilcox(Uncasville, Conn.). After Mike Jamieson (New Fairfield, Conn.) reached on an error, Peterson came in from third to make it 1-0, Springfield.

The Pride tacked on another run in the bottom of the second, when Allen led off the inning with a double off the right-field fence, before Colin King (Berlin, Conn) beat out an infield single, allowing Allen to advance home to push the Pride's lead to a pair.

After giving up a pair in the top of the fifth, Springfield regained its one-run lead, when Allen drove his second double of the game to left field, plating Drabinski to make it 3-2, Springfield, after five.

The Pride added two more runs in the ensuing inning, when Mark Joao (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) singled, before Wilcox walked to put runners on first and second. After a strikeout for Gammell, Drabinski sent a ball into left-center field, scoring Peterson from second and Wilcox from first to push the Pride's lead to three.

The Falcons would cut its deficit to two in the top of the seventh, before scoring another run in the top of the ninth, but Goldman was able to silence the rally with a strikeout to seal the victory for the Pride.