Fitchburg State Edges Westfield State, 4-3/3-2

Cyrus and Alcott lift Falcons to conference sweep over Westfield State

WESTFIELD, Mass. (April 21, 2013) – The Fitchburg State softball team registered a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) sweep over host Westfield State University. The Falcons posted a 4-3 victory in the opening contest before edging the Owls, 3-2 in the nightcap.

Fitchburg State 4, Westfield State 3 (Game 1)

In game one, Fitchburg State grabbed the lead in the top of the first inning as junior Ashley Forgues (Fitchburg, Mass./Fitchburg) lead off the inning with single to left field before freshman Tori Cyrus (Everett, Mass./Everett) blasted her first collegiate homerun over the left center field fence for the 2-0 margin.

The Falcons quickly upped their lead in the next inning as junior Kerry Alcott (Groton, Mass./Groton Dunstable) connected for her first collegiate homer to deep left field for the 3-0 advantage.

Westfield State cut the deficit to one as sophomore Breanne Bisceglia (Worcester, Mass./Burncoat) plated senior Courtney Begin (Salem, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) and crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly off the bat of classmate Kelsey Carpenter (Barre, Mass./Mt. Everett) to make the score 3-2 after four innings of play.

The Green and Gold regained a two run lead in the top of the sixth inning when sophomore Amanda Whitelaw (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central) opened the stanza with walk and scored on an RBI double by classmate Colleen Flaherty (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) for the 4-2 lead.

The Owls made one last rally in the final inning as freshman Kate Woishnis (Chicopee, Mass./Chicopee) singled to score Carpenter and put runners on second and third with two outs but Falcon hurler Brittany Whiting (Sharon, Mass./Sharon) struck the follow batter to secure the 4-3 victory.

For Fitchburg State, Cyrus went 1-fo-3 with a run scored, two RBI and a homerun, while Alcott finished the day with a homerun, one run scored and an RBI. Carpenter and Biscaglia paced the Owls, registering a hit and one RBI each.

In the circle, Whiting was masterful for the Falcons, allowing three earned runs on three hits with nine strikeouts, while junior Kelley Fluet (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) suffered the setback for Westfield State, yielding just two earned runs on five hits and seven K's.

Fitchburg State 3, Westfield State 2 (Game 2) 

In the nightcap, Fitchburg State received some timely hitting, using a three run sixth inning to defeat Westfield State, 3-1 to complete the conference sweep. With the win, Fitchburg State improves to 14-18 and 6-4 within the conference, while Westfield State falls to 7-22 and 4-6 in conference play.

Flaherty led the Falcons offensive game-two charge, going 2-for-3 at the dish with a double and two RBI, while Binnall added a single, one run scored and one RBI. Begin was solid for the Owls, registering two hits with an RBI, while Woishnis and Bisceglia aided the offense, posting two hits each.

On the mound, Alcott picked up win for Fitchburg State, allowing just one earned run on eight hits with five K's in the complete game effort, while sophomore Emily Mailloux (Erving, Mass./Turners Falls) took the loss for the Owls, giving up three earned runs on six hits and seven punch outs.

Westfield State threatened in the opening frame as they proceeded to load the bases on hits from Begin, Bisceglia and Carpenter but Alcott was able to work out of the jam by inducing a groundout and a fly out to keep the game scoreless.

The Owls opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning when Woishis singled to shortstop, stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on base knock by Begin for the 1-0 lead.

Fitchburg State nearly knotted the score in the top of the fifth innings as Flaherty laced a double to left center to start the inning off but Mailloux settled down, getting a pair of pop outs and a strikeout to get out of the inning unscathed.

The Falcons responded in the following inning, scoring three times on three hits. Junior Marissa Binnall (Fitchburg, Mass./Fitchburg) and Cyrus collected RBI singles before Flaherty delivered a clutch two-run double to left center, scoring both Binnall and Cyrus to take a 3-1 advantage.

The hosts made one last attempt in the bottom of the seventh inning when junior Amanda Flowers (Reading, Mass./Reading) reached on a muffed throw and eventually scored on a RBI ground out by junior Molly Dunbar (Weymouth, Mass./Notre Dame Academy but Alcott closed the door, setting down the final batter, resulting in the 3-2 final

Fitchburg State (14-18, 6-4 MASCAC) returns to action on Tuesday as it hosts the Lancers of Worcester State University for a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. Westfield State (7-22, 4-6 MASCAC) will visit MCLA on Tuesday for a twin billing starting at 2 p.m.