MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME BASEBALL
Monday, April 20, 2009
Riccards Field, Fitchburg, Mass.
GAME #1 FINAL: MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 8, FITCHBURG STATE 4
123 456 7 R H E
Massachusetts Maritime (10-13, 4-7 MASCAC) 131 012 0 - 8 14 0
Fitchburg State (15-14, 3-8 MASCAC) 003 001 0 - 4 9 1
BATTERIES
MMA: Nick Levitre and William Shouldice
FIT: Perry Russo, Steve Donah (3), Nick Ryan (5) and Will Comerford
WP: Levitre (3-1) LP: Russo (3-1) Home Run: MMA – Tyler Spofford (1)
GAME #2 FINAL: FITCHBURG STATE 8, MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 5
123 456 7 R H E
Massachusetts Maritime (10-14, 4-8 MASCAC) 230 000 0 - 5 7 4
Fitchburg State (16-14, 4-8 MASCAC) 301 130 x - 8 10 1
BATTERIES
MMA: Matthew O'Brien, Eric Moreschi (1), Louis Ottino (3), Corey Murphy (5),
Neil Patnaude (6) and Nate Eldridge
FIT: Jake Barbarotta, Marshall Miller (2) and Will Comerford
WP: Miller (2-1) LP: Murphy (1-5) Home Run: FIT – John Phelan (1)
FITCHBURG, Mass. -- Senior Tyler Spofford (Sharon Springs, N.Y.) rapped out three hits, including his first home run of the season, while sophomore Corey Murphy (East Wareham, Mass.) drove in three runs with a pair of hits to lead Massachusetts Maritime to an 8-4 opening game victory over Fitchburg State in a Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader Monday afternoon at Riccards Field.
The Falcons gained a split of the twinbill by snapping a 5-5 fifth inning tie with three runs, highlighted by a two-run single off the bat of senior Andy Sauer (Willington, Conn.), to claim an 8-5 triumph in the nightcap.
The visiting Buccaneers (10-14, 4-8 MASCAC) jumped out to a 5-0 advantage through three innings in the opener, as Spofford's solo shot in the first and junior Joe Albano's (Agawam, Mass.) RBI single in the third sandwiched a two-run single by Murphy and an RBI safety by freshman Nick Montalto (South Yarmouth, Mass.) in the second. The host Falcons (16-14, 4-8 MASCAC) closed back to within two at 5-3 in the third on RBI singles by Sauer, senior Kris Breen (Griswold, Conn.) and sophomore Richard Graham (Walpole, Mass.), but Spofford's fifth inning RBI single and a pair of run-scoring singles off the bats of Murphy and sophomore Wil Rodriguez (Lowell, Mass.) extended Massachusetts Maritime's edge to 8-3, as senior Aaron Granahan's (Thomaston, Conn.) RBI groundout in the sixth accounted for the final Fitchburg State run of the first contest.
Montalto, Rodriguez and Albano each added two hits in the opening game triumph for the Buccaneers as a part of a 14-hit attack, as sophomore Nick Levitre (Grafton, Mass.) went the distance in scattering nine hits and striking out three to improve to 3-1 on the mound. Sauer, Graham and sophomore Will Comerford (Ayer, Mass.) each had two hits in the first game setback for the Falcons, as freshman Perry Russo (East Hartford, Conn.) allowed five hits and three earned runs over two innings of work in taking the defeat on the mound.
Freshman Kyle Armstrong's (Whitman, Mass.) two-run first inning single gave Massachusetts Maritime an early 2-0 advantage in the nightcap, but Fitchburg State received RBI singles from Breen and freshman Michal Mercier (Townsend, Mass.), as well as a sacrifice fly from junior Matt Morrison (Beverly, Mass.), to take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the frame. Spofford's two-run single, coupled with a balk, enabled the Buccaneers to plate three runs in the second for a 5-3 edge, but the Falcons scored single runs in the third on Morrison's second sacrifice fly of the game and in the fourth on sophomore John Phelan's (Walpole, Mass.) first home run of the season to even matters. Phelan gave the hosts the lead for good with a fifth inning RBI single, and Sauer followed with a two-run safety that provided a pair of insurance runs for Fitchburg State and account for the final score of the nightcap.
Phelan was 3-for-3 with two RBI in the second game win for the Falcons, which also received two hits from Mercier. Junior Marshall Miller (Greenfield, Mass.) picked up his second win of the spring for Fitchburg State, allowing three hits and fanning six in 5 1/3 innings of relief. Murphy suffered the setback on the mound in the nightcap in allowing three hits and three unearned runs in the fifth frame for the Buccaneers, who collected seven second game safeties.
Massachusetts Maritime hosts Wentworth in a non-league outing on Friday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field beginning at 3:00 p.m., while Fitchburg State heads to Leicester, Mass. on Wednesday afternoon for a non-league contest with Becker that begins at 3:30 p.m.