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Fitchburg State Falls At Westfield State

Fitchburg State Falls At Westfield State

Falcons suffer 10-2 setback in game one; Nipped 7-6 in the nightcap

WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University softball team dropped a pair of games this afternoon to the Owls of Westfield State University in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action at Alumni Field.

Westfield State 10, Fitchburg 2 (Game 1)

In the opening contest, Westfield State opened the scoring in the bottom of the first as freshman Bri Tortora doubled to left center and crossed the plate on base hit off the bat of junior Erika Gouin for the 1-0 lead

Fitchburg State knotted the score (1-1) in the top of the second when sophomore Katie Gildea singled, moved to second and third on a hit by pitch and ground out before newcomer Michelle LeBlanc drove in GIldea with run scoring single.

The Falcons grabbed the lead in the following frame as freshman Maddie Medina doubled, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and came around to score on a sacrifice fly from sophomore Emily Comtois for the 2-1 margin.

The hosts responded with three runs in the bottom half of the third when junior Julia Sullivan homered, while sophomore Maddy Atkocaitis singled and later scored on a fielding miscue before sophomore Michaela LeBlanc brought home Gourin on a ground out.

The Owls secured their 12th win on the season, plating six runs in the bottom of the fourth as Sullivan drove in a pair, while Guerin and senior Jamie Ricciardi added one RBI each in the inning, resulting in the 10-2 game one final.

M. LeBlanc paced the Falcons, going 2-for-2 with an RBI, while Gildea and Medina combined for two hits, including a double. For Westfield State Sullivan finished 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored and three RBI, while Tortora added a pair of hits, including a double and two runs scored.

In the circle, newcomer Kaylee Sylvestre took the loss, allowing seven earned runs on 11 hits with three K's for Fitchburg State, while Sullivan picked up the win for the Owls, giving up two runs on four hits and three strikeouts.

Westfield State 7, Fitchburg State 6 (Game 2)

In game two, Comtois led the way for Fitchburg State, hitting 2-for-3 with a home run, one run scored and three RBI, while senior Tori Cyrus went 3-for-4 with a double, one run scored and one run batted in

For the Owls, junior Liz Kelly finished 3-for-4 with double and two runs scored, while Gourin batted 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI.

On the bump, junior Galen Kerr yielded seven runs (3 earned) on ten hits and two strikeouts in 6.1 innings of work for the Falcons, while freshman Sarah Eugenio collected the win for Westfield State, giving up six runs (four earned) on nine hits with three K's in the complete game effort.

Trailing 6-3 in the top of the seventh, Fitchburg State rallied to knot the score at 6-6 as senior Marissa Gemma singled, moved to second on a fielding miscue to put runners on first and second before Comtois blasted a three-run home run to left but the Owls scratched across the a run in the bottom half of the seventh when Atkocaitis opened the frame with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Gourin for the 7-6 final.

Westfield State jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first when Tortora walked, moved to third on a double by Kelly and scored on a ground out from Sullivan, while Atkocaitis knocked in Kelly with single to center for the 2-0 margin.

Fitchburg State cut the deficit in half (2-1) in the top of the fourth frame as Cyrus singled to center, advanced to third on single by Gildea and following a fielding miscue to load the bases, senior Brianna Uga walked to bring in Cyrus.

The hosts upped its lead in the bottom of the fourth when junior Emma Dunbar singled, moved to second on passed ball and scored along with Tortora on a throwing miscue, while Sullivan and  Gourin added run scoring singles later in the stanza to make the score 6-1.

The Green and Gold battled back however in the top of the fifth as Gemma tripled and scored on a wild pitch. Following a walk by Medina, Cyrus proceeded to lace a double into the right centerfield gap to make the score 6-3 going into the seventh.

Fitchburg State (15-15, 5-5 MASCAC) will be back in action on Tuesday as it travels to Worcester State for a double header, starting at 5 p.m. Westfield State (13-20, 6-4) will host Smith for a twin billing starting at 3:30 p.m.

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