BUZZARDS BAY, Mass -- Maritime baseball hosted Fitchburg State on Friday afternoon at Hendy Field in the first of three conference games this weekend. In a back-and-forth game between the teams, the Bucs took a lead in the bottom of the eighth thanks to an AJ Pietrafesa two-RBI double and won the game, 6-5. The win marks their first conference win of the season. To close out the game, Brenden Baiardi recorded his 15th career save, a new all-time program record.

The Basics

Final: Buccaneers 6, Falcons 5

Records: Maritime: (8-11, 1-3)

               Fitchburg (6-15, 1-3)

On The Mound

Maritime: Justin Brown (W, 1-2): 1.2 IP | 3 H | 2 R | 2 ER | 0 BB | 2 K

                Brenden Baiardi (Sv, 2): 1 IP | 0 H | 0 R | 1 BB | 0 K

                Nokan Kennedy: 6.1 IP | 6 H | 3 R | 3 ER | 1 BB | 3 K

Fitchburg: Justin Maheu (L, 1-2): 4.1 IP | 4 H | 3 R | 3 ER | 2 BB | 2 K

                 Joseph Hartnett: 3.2 IP | 4 H | 3 R | 3 ER | 5 BB | 4 K

Inside The Numbers

Maritime

• Brett Velzis, AJ Pietrafesa, and Evan Vieira each had two hits in the win.
• Tucker Leslie and Michael Estrada both had one hit.
• Pietrafesa and Estrada both had a double, the only extra base hits for the Bucs.
• Pietrafesa drove in three runs, including the tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth. Velzis and Estrada were both credited with one RBI.
• Leslie scored twice, Max Hefner, Velzis, Pietrafesa, and Vieira all scored once.

Fitchburg

• Joseph Abt and Carter Pike recorded two hits apiece. Five other Falcons had one hit each.
• Matthew Smith and Abt drove in two runs. Jacob Hurrell drove in one.
• Five different Falcons scored in the loss.
• Hurrell hit a solo home run and Smith, Adam Koza, Abt, and Pike all had doubles.
• Matthew Kelly and Pike were both credited with a stolen base.

How It Happened

The Falcons scored in the top of the first inning on Hurrell's solo home run to right field with two outs in the inning. In the bottom of the inning the Buccaneers tied the game on a Pietrafesa single that scored Leslie and then the Bucs took the lead on a wild pitch that scored Velzis from third. The Bucs led 2-1 after one.

In the bottom of the second, Maritime extended the lead to 3-1 on a bases-loaded walk of Velzis that brought in Vieira to score. 

After two quick innings in the third and fourth, Fitchburg tied the game in the top of the fifth on a Smith double down the left field line that brought in Kelly and Pike to score. Tied 3-3, the Bucs retook the lead in the bottom of the frame when Estrada delivered a double of his own that scored Pietrafesa and the Bucs led 4-3 after five. 

The sixth and seventh innings went by without either team scoring a run. Then, in the top of the eighth, Fitchburg's Abt doubled to right center with two on and drove in both runners to give the Falcons a 5-4 advantage. The Bucs weren't done yet; in the bottom of the eighth, with the bases loaded, Pietrafesa doubled to right field and brought in Leslie and Hefner, giving the Buccaneers a 6-5 lead through eight.

In the top of the ninth, the Buccaneers closer, Baiardi, came in and allowed a base runner that eventually matriculated his way to third but he never came in to score as Baiardi shut the door to complete the 6-5 victory of Fitchburg and earn his second save of the season and 15th of his career to become the program's all-time leader in the category. 

What's Next

The Buccaneers and Falcons will meet again on Sunday at Hendy Field for their conference doubleheader to close out the series. The two games were originally intended to be played in Fitchburg but due to snow on their field the games will be played in Buzzards Bay with the Falcons serving as the home team. Game one begins at 1pm.