Falcons Split Twinbill with Owls on Senior Day

Parsons tosses fifth win of the season

Worcester, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University baseball team split a pair with the Owls of Westfield State, 2-1, 8-1 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action on Saturday afternoon on the campus of Clark University.

In between the two games the Falcons honored their senior class, Tommy Parsons (Peabody, Mass.), Noah Milliard (Leominster, Mass.), Andrew Dunn (Danvers, Mass.) and Adam Somers (Framingham, Mass.) for their outstanding contributions to the Falcons' baseball family.

The Basics

Score Game 1: Fitchburg State 2, Westfield State 1
Score Game 2: Fitchburg State 1, Westfield State 8
Records: Fitchburg State (22-14, 12-8 MASCAC) | Westfield State (24-12, 14-6 MASCAC)

How It Happened – Game 1

The Falcons scored all the runs that they would need in the home half of the first inning. After freshman Brendan Ferrell (Leominster, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice, senior Noah Milliard (Leominster, Mass.) laced a double down the right field line scoring Ferrell. One batter later Milliard came home on an RBI single up the middle from junior Joshua Macomber (Berkley, Mass.).

Westfield cut the deficit in half with a run in the top of the third inning. Senior Anthony Crowley (Bellingham, Mass.) drew a one-out walk and moved to second when senior Aaon Clancy (Quincy, Mass.) singled to left field. Junior Jake Gibbs (Stoughton, Mass.) stepped to the plate next doubling down the left field line plating Crowley to make it a 2-1 game.

Sophomore Ryan Towle (Westfield, Mass.) pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh inning to earn his first save of the season. Towle had two strikeouts with one walk and one hit in two inning of relief to secure the win.

Inside the Numbers – Game 1

• Senior Tommy Parsons (Peabody, Mass.) picked up his fifth win of the season in a five inning effort for the Falcons. Parsons (5-1) gave up one run on four hits with five walks and five strikeouts.
• Senior John Gegetskas (Winsor, Conn.) suffered the loss in the circle for Owls as he allowed two runs on four hits with six strikeouts and a pair of walks.

How It Happened – Game 2

It was the Owls turn to strike in the first inning, scoring three runs on a pair of home runs. With two out Anthony Crowley drove a deep ball over the left field fence for the 1-0 lead. Two batters later with a runner on base, junior Jake Gibbs jacked a home run over the left field to push the score to 3-0.

After scoring a single run in the fourth frame, Westfield doubled the lead in the fifth. Once again it was the Crowley and Gibbs show. Crowley delivered a 3-run home run to left field, while Gibbs had a solo shot to increase the lead to 8-0.

The Falcons broke-up the shutout in the sixth inning. With one out sophomore Nicholas Cordeau (Melrose, Mass.) tripled to right center and scored on Noah Milliard's sacrifice fly to center field.

Inside the Numbers – Game 2

• Sophomore Shane Bogli (Vernon, Conn.) earned the victory for the Owls. Bogli went five innings allowing just three hits with five strikeouts for his sixth win of the season.
• Junior Richard Sharp (Townsend, Mass.) took the loss for the Falcons, pitching four innings allowing four runs on four hits with four strikeouts.

Up Next

Both teams will finish the final game of the standard MASCAC three-game series on Monday afternoon at 1:30pm. The game will be played at Springfield College.