Sullo Hits For Near Cycle As Baseball Gains Split Of MASCAC Twinbill At Worcester State With 5-2 Nightcap Victory

MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME BASEBALL

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Lyons Diamond, Worcester, Mass.

GAME #1 FINAL:          WORCESTER STATE 7, MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 6

GAME #2 FINAL:          MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 5, WORCESTER STATE 2

WORCESTER, Mass. --  Freshman Logan Sullo (Dartmouth, Mass.) nearly hit for the cycle and drove in four runs as Massachusetts Maritime gained a split of a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader with Worcester State by posting a 5-2 nightcap victory Saturday afternoon at Lyons Diamond.  The host Lancers used a three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh and came back from a pair of two-run deficits to notch a 7-6 opening game triumph.

The visiting Buccaneers (7-5, 2-1 MASCAC) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in their first two at-bats of the nightcap on Sullo’s RBI double and a run-scoring single by fellow freshman Connor Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.), but the host Lancers (8-9, 1-1 MASCAC) evened matters in the bottom of the second on a throwing error.  Sullo gave Massachusetts Maritime the lead for good in the fifth with an RBI triple that plated Kennedy, and he provided the visitors with a pair of insurance tallies in the seventh with his first collegiate home run (a two-run shot to right center) that accounted for the final score. 

Kennedy, senior Bobby Rosano (North Reading, Mass.) and sophomore Terrence Mudie (Barnstable, Mass.) each had two hits as a part of a 10-hit attack in the second game for the Buccaneers, as senior T.J. Notarangelo (Foxboro, Mass.) allowed four hits and a pair of unearned runs while fanning three over the first four innings to even his record at 1-1 on the season.  Sophomore Daniel Avery (Milford, Mass.) scattered a pair of hits and struck out two over the final three innings for Massachusetts Maritime to earn his first save of the spring.  Senior Zach George (Attleboro, Mass.) collected two of Worcester State’s six hits in the nightcap, as sophomore Kris Doyle (Millbury, Mass.) went the distance and fanned nine on the mound for the Lancers, falling to 1-2 on the season.

Worcester State took an early lead in its first at-bat of the opener on senior David Ruggiero’s (Peabody, Mass.) RBI double, and that score held up until the top of the fifth when Massachusetts Maritime rallied for three runs on a run-scoring single by freshman William Keane (Braintree, Mass.) that was followed by a throwing error and a fielder’s choice.  The Lancers evened matters in the bottom half of the frame on back-to-back doubles by George and sophomore Jake Ryan (Whitinsville, Mass.), and the two teams traded single runs in the sixth, as Rosano’s RBI single accounted for the Buccaneers’ tally while a run-scoring groundout by junior John Boyd (Worcester, Mass.) again tied things for the hosts.

Massachusetts Maritime took a 6-4 lead in the top of the seventh when sophomore Jonah Olsen (Falmouth, Mass.) stole home on an executed double steal with junior Everett Walsh (Marstons Mills, Mass.), who later scored on a passed ball.  Worcester State quickly loaded the bases on three straight singles and pulled to within one on a bases loaded walk to Ryan, and the Lancers plated the tying and winning runs on sophomore Adam Barry’s (Auburn, Mass.) sacrifice fly that was followed by a throwing error, enabling junior Steve Wallace (Auburn, Mass.) to score and complete the hosts’ walk-off triumph.

George and Ruggiero each had two hits as part of an eight-hit attack for Worcester State in the opener, as senior Ben Libuda (Auburn, Mass.) went the distance on the mound for the Lancers in allowing three earned runs and striking out six to improve to 3-1 on the season.  Rosano and sophomore Jake Petruzzelli (Abington, Mass.) had two hits each to pace a nine-hit attack for Massachusetts Maritime, as senior Zac Cooney (East Bridgewater, Mass.) suffered his first setback on the mound for the Buccaneers in 1 1/3 innings in relief of junior Kevin Kwedor (Marshfield, Mass.), who allowed a pair of earned runs and fanned two over the first five innings of action.

Massachusetts Maritime hosts Newbury in a non-league outing on Wednesday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field beginning at 3:30 p.m., while Worcester State hosts Nichols in a non-league doubleheader on Monday afternoon at Lyons Diamond that begins at 2:00 p.m.