MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME BASEBALL

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Commodore Hendy Field, Buzzards Bay, Mass.

GAME #1 FINAL:          MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 4, FRAMINGHAM STATE 3

GAME #2 FINAL:          MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 7, FRAMINGHAM STATE 6

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. --  Freshman Logan Sullo’s (Dartmouth, Mass.) three-run walk-off homer with two outs in the bottom of the seventh lifted Massachusetts Maritime to a 7-6 nightcap victory and a sweep of a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader from Framingham State Wednesday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field.  The Buccaneers also took the opener in walk-off fashion, as sophomore Jonah Olsen (Falmouth, Mass.) scored on a two-out error in the bottom of the seventh for a 4-3 triumph.

The host Buccaneers (13-9, 8-4 MASCAC) jumped into sole possession of second place in the MASCAC standings with the sweep and presented Head Coach Bob Corradi with his 575^th career victory in his 43^rd and final season with the nightcap triumph, as Massachusetts Maritime trailed 6-3 heading into its final at-bat before junior Kevin Kwedor (Marshfield, Mass.) started the deciding rally with a pinch-hit single that cut the hosts’ deficit to two.  Sophomore Terrence Mudie (Barnstable, Mass.) drew a two-out walk that brought Sullo to the plate, and he laced a 2-2 pitch over the right center field fence for his second home run of the spring and the walk-off sweep.

The visiting Rams (19-14, 6-6 MASCAC) had taken a 3-1 third inning lead in the second contest on a home run off the bat of senior Ivan Colon (Waltham, Mass.) and a wild pitch, and Framingham State extended that margin to 5-1 in the fourth on an RBI single by junior R.J. Gray (Lowell, Mass.) and a run-scoring double off the bat of junior Ryan Connelly (West Roxbury, Mass.).  Senior Greg Downs (Marshfield, Mass.) sliced the Buccaneers’ deficit to three with his first home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth, and the teams traded single tallies in the sixth, with the Rams scoring on a wild pitch and Massachusetts Maritime answering with an RBI groundout by junior Everett Walsh (Marstons Mills, Mass.), to set up Sullo’s walk-off heroics.

Sullo came up a double shy of hitting for the cycle with three hits to go with his three-run homer for the Buccaneers, who made the most of their six nightcap hits.  Junior Kyle Kennedy (Woodbury, Conn.) earned his second victory of the day and third of the season with a scoreless inning of relief for the hosts, as senior T.J. Notarangelo (Foxboro, Mass.) fanned five over the first 3 1/3 frames for Massachusetts Maritime.  Colon collected two of Framingham State’s nine hits in the nightcap setback, as freshman Chris Riga (Westfield, Mass.) suffered the setback by surrendering all four seventh inning runs for the Rams to fall to 1-1 on the season.  Senior Zack Kirby (Rochester, Mass.) went the first six frames on the mound for the visitors, allowing a pair of unearned runs and striking out nine along the way.

Framingham State grabbed a 1-0 second inning lead in the opener on senior John Gill’s (Hudson, Mass.) RBI double, but Massachusetts Maritime evened matters in the fourth on a run-scoring double by freshman Tyler Chaisson (Newburyport, Mass.) before taking a 3-1 fifth inning lead on freshman Connor Kennedy’s (West Barnstable, Mass.) RBI single that was followed by a sacrifice fly off the bat of sophomore Jake Petruzzelli (Abington, Mass.).  The Rams tied the score at 3-3 in the sixth on freshman Jordan Pallazola’s (Rockport, Mass.) two-run homer to right center, setting the stage for the Buccaneers’ first walk-off win of the day in the seventh.  Olsen reached on a fielder’s choice, advanced to second on a Downs single and then to third on a wild pitch, and with two outs, a grounder to third was misplayed, allowing Olsen to score the deciding tally.

Connor Kennedy rapped out three of Massachusetts Maritime’s eight opening game hits, as Kyle Kennedy tossed 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to pick up his first win of the afternoon in relief of senior Zac Cooney (East Bridgewater, Mass.), who struck out seven over the first 5 2/3 frames.  Gill and Pallazola each had two of Framingham State’s seven hits in the opening setback, as sophomore Michael Andrews (Stoneham, Mass.) suffered the setback in falling to 3-4 on the spring for the Rams in allowing three earned runs and striking out six over 6 1/3 innings of work.

Massachusetts Maritime hosts Wentworth in a non-league outing on Thursday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field beginning at 3:00 p.m., while Framingham State heads to Providence, R.I. on Thursday afternoon to take on Rhode Island College in a non-league contest that begins at 3:30 p.m.

(Photo courtesy Sean Walsh, Sports Editor, CapeCod.com)