Falcons Fall Twice To MASCAC Rival Owls

Thomas notches first collegiate hit for Green and Gold

Westfield, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University Baseball team dropped a pair of Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) contests to the Owls of Westfield State University this afternoon at Hagan Field by the scores of 6-3 and 10-5.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 3, Westfield State 6 (Game One)
Score: Fitchburg State 5, Westfield State 10 (Game Two)

Records: Fitchburg State (3-17, 0-3 MASCAC), Westfield State (10-6, 3-0 MASCAC)

How It Happened

Game One

Fitchburg State broke a 0-0 stalemate in the top of the third inning as junior Jaime Velez (Lowell, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice, move to third on a single from senior Brendan Ferrell (Plymouth, Mass.) and scored on a throwing error, while Ferrell came home on a on RBI single off the bat of senior Zachary Morris (Salem, N.H.) for the 2-0 margin.

Westfield State answered back in the bottom half of the third when graduate student Casey Boudreau (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and senior Nick Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) connecting on a single and double, while freshman Samuel Palmer (Medfield, Mass.) followed and sophomore Nolan Florence (Chicopee, Mass.) followed with run scoring singles for the 3-2 advantage.

The Owls upped its lead (5-2) in the bottom of the fifth with Martin singling to third, stole second, advanced to third on a fly out and scored on a wild pitch, while sophomore Trey Falkner (Springfield, Mass.) brought in senior Jake Butler (Westfield, Mass.) with a sacrifice fly.

The Green and Gold cut into the deficit in the top of the seventh as junior Zachary Malek (Schenectady, N.Y.) singled, moved to second and third on base hit and fielder's choice and scored on an RBI single from Velez, but that's as close as the Falcons would get as the Owls held on for the 6-3, game one victory.

Game Two

Westfield State plated eight runs on six hits in the opening frame, keyed by a two single by Martin and a two-run triple from Palmer, while Boudreau and Faulkner added run scoring singles for the Owls.

Fitchburg State plated single runs in the top of the third and fourth innings as Sharp singled through the right side to bring in Morris and Masta registered a sacrifice fly that scored senior Connor Morehouse (Wetherby Lake, Mo.) to make the score 10-2.

The Green and Gold continued to battle, cutting into the Owls lead in the top of the sixth with Ferrell reaching on a fielder's choice that allowed newcomer Silas Thomas (Sequim, Wash.) to cross the plate, while classmate Liam Goldstein (Charlestown, R.I.) added a sacrifice fly, but Westfield State closed out the contest in the seventh, resulting in the 10-5, game two final.

By The Numbers

• 93rd meeting between the two teams on the baseball diamond with the Falcons 21-69 all-time when taking on the Owls
• Malek paced the Falcons, going 2-for-3 with a run scored in game one
• For the Owls, Martin finished 2-of-4 with a double and two runs scored
• Senior Richard Sharp (Townsend, Mass.) took the loss for Fitchburg State, allowing five runs on eight hits with two K's in five innings of work
• Senior Nate Langmeier (East Granby, Conn.) picked up the win for Westfield State, giving up three runs (1 earned) on ten hits with five strikeouts in the complete game effort
• Velez finished 2-for-2 with two runs scored for Fitchburg State in game two
• Palmer goes 3-for-5 with a double, one run scored and three RBI for Westfield State
• Freshman Joseph Hartnett (North Attleboro, Mass.) allowed two runs on three hits with three K's in two innings of relief for the Falcons
• Junior Ryan Robidoux (Suffield, Conn.) collected the win for the Owls, giving up two runs on five hits with a pair of strikeouts over four innings pitched

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Tuesday as they travel to Keene State to take on the Owls for a non-conference tilt, starting at 3:00 PM.