MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME BASEBALL

Monday, February 27, 2017

Lawnwood Park, Fort Pierce, Fla.

GAME #1 FINAL:          MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 8, HOUGHTON (N.Y.) 5

GAME #2 FINAL:          MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 12, HOUGHTON (N.Y.) 6

FORT PIERCE, Fla. --  Junior Casey Furnas (Boca Raton, Fla.) rapped out four hits and drove in four runs as Massachusetts Maritime swept a non-league college baseball doubleheader from Houghton (N.Y.) by scores of 8-5 in the opener and 12-6 in the nightcap in the season-opening contests for both teams played Monday afternoon at Lawnwood Park.

The Buccaneers (2-0) jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in their first at-bat of the opener on an RBI single by senior Jake Petruzzelli (Abington, Mass.) that was followed by a run-scoring double off the bat of fellow senior Aidan Desrosiers (North Attleboro, Mass.), and after a sacrifice fly by sophomore Paul Sances (Middleboro, Mass.) in the second plated another run, a two-run throwing error by the Highlanders (0-2) in the bottom of the third extended Massachusetts Maritime’s lead to 5-2.  Houghton plated three tallies in the top of the fourth to even matters at 5-5 before Furnas snapped the tie in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run single, and junior Logan Sullo (Acushnet, Mass.) provided an insurance run in the sixth with an RBI double that plated fellow junior Connor Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.), who had led off the frame with a two-bagger.

Furnas and Kennedy combined for half of the Buccaneers’ eight hits in the lid-lifter, as sophomore Brian Kwedor (Marshfield, Mass.) earned the win with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to pick up his sixth victory in seven career decisions.  Senior Daniel Avery (Milford, Mass.) earned his third career save by inducing a game-ending double play for Massachusetts Maritime, as junior Justin Nichols (Adams, Mass.) allowed three earned runs in 3 2/3 innings in making the start in the opener.

Houghton jumped out to a 1-0 third inning lead in the nightcap before Furnas’s two-run single in the top of the fourth gave the Buccaneers the lead for good, as Massachusetts Maritime broke things open with a seven run sixth inning rally that featured two-run doubles off the bats of Furnas and Sances and a bases-clearing two-bagger by freshman Jackson Simone (Seattle, Wash.).  Sullo provided three insurance tallies in the top of the seventh for the winners with a three-run double, as the Highlanders plated five runs in the bottom half of the inning to account for the final score.

Four of the Buccaneers’ seven nightcap hits went for extra bases, as freshman Andrew Auld (Wakefield, Mass.) tossed three scoreless innings to pick up his first career victory in relief of fellow freshman Matt Smith (Lowell, Mass.), who fanned a pair and allowed one run over the first three frames.  The sweep enables Massachusetts Maritime to leave Florida unbeaten for the first time since the 2007 season.    

Massachusetts Maritime opens its Northern schedule on Saturday, March 11^th by hosting Johnson & Wales in a non-league doubleheader at Commodore Hendy Field that begins at Noon, while Houghton takes on Eastern (Pa.) in a non-league outing on Wednesday afternoon at Lawnwood Park beginning at 1:00 p.m.