MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME BASEBALL

Saturday, April 9, 2016

Riccards Field, Fitchburg, Mass.

GAME #1 FINAL:          MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 3, FITCHBURG STATE 2

GAME #2 FINAL:          MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 2, FITCHBURG STATE 1

FITCHBURG, Mass. --  Senior Alex Rozak (Plymouth, Mass.) and junior Daniel Avery (Milford, Mass.) each scattered three hits over a combined 11 innings of work on the mound as Massachusetts Maritime opened defense of its Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season baseball title with a sweep of a league doubleheader from Fitchburg State by finals of 3-2 in the opener and 2-1 in the nightcap in games played Saturday afternoon at Riccards Field.

The visiting Buccaneers (10-8, 2-0 MASCAC) grabbed a 2-0 fourth inning lead in the opener on an RBI single by junior Jake Petruzzelli (Abington, Mass.) and a throwing error, but the host Falcons (8-13, 2-2 MASCAC) evened matters in the bottom of the fifth by plating a pair of unearned runs on a two-out error.  Sophomore Billy Keane (Braintree, Mass.) led off the top of the sixth with a triple for Massachusetts Maritime and scored the deciding run on freshman Riley Fusaro’s (Nantucket, Mass.) sacrifice fly, and senior Kyle Kennedy (Woodbury, Conn.) took care of the rest by recording the final six outs (three via strikeout) to earn his second save of the spring.

Petruzzelli rapped out two of Massachusetts Maritime’s six opening game hits in support of Rozak, who scattered three hits and fanned a pair over the first five innings of work to improve to 2-3 on the season for the Buccaneers.  Freshman Noah Millard (Leominster, Mass.) collected two of Fitchburg State’s three hits in the lid-lifter, as sophomore Tommy Parsons (Peabody, Mass.) went the distance on the mound for the Falcons, allowing a pair of earned runs and striking out 11 in falling to 3-3 overall on the season.

Senior Greg Downs (Marshfield, Mass.) gave the visitors a 1-0 third inning lead in the nightcap with his first home run of the season over the center field wall, and he scored the eventual winning tally in the fifth after leading off that frame with a single and scoring on sophomore Connor Kennedy’s (West Barnstable, Mass.) sacrifice fly.  Fitchburg State sliced its deficit in half in the bottom of the fifth when junior Steven Drury (Leominster, Mass.) singled and scored on a two-out wild pitch, but that would prove to be the hosts' lone run as Kyle Kennedy came on to record the final three outs to save both ends of the twinbill and complete the sweep.

Sophomore Cobie Gerbis (Holmes Beach, Fla.) joined Downs with two hits as part of a seven-hit nightcap attack for Massachusetts Maritime, as Avery walked none and struck out six over six innings of work to improve to 2-1 on the season.  Senior Javier Lozada (New Bedford, Mass.) went the distance on the mound for Fitchburg State, as he also struck out six in falling to 2-1 overall on the spring.

Massachusetts Maritime hosts Worcester State in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field beginning at 1:00 p.m., while Fitchburg State heads to Norton, Mass. on Monday afternoon to take on Wheaton in a non-league outing that begins at 4:00 p.m.