FITCHBURG, Mass -- The Buccaneers opened their three-game conference series with Fitchburg State on the road Friday afternoon and put up 14 runs on the Falcons winning the series opener 14-3.

The Basics

Final: Buccaneers 14, Falcons 3

Records: Maritime (13-11, 3-4)

               Fitchburg (11-11, 2-5)

On The Mound

Maritime: Justin Brown (W, 2-1): 5.1 IP | 7 H | 2 R | 2 ER | 4 BB | 5 K

                Chase Dwight (Sv, 1): 3.2 IP | 4 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 3 BB | 0 K

Fitchburg: Orion Daily (L, 1-4): 6 IP | 9 H | 8 R | 5 ER | 5 BB | 6 K

At The Plate

Maritime

• John Tropea and Chris Perito each had three hits in the game including a triple for Tropea. 
• Frank Aten, Michael Estrada, and Chris Ely each had two hits in the win.
• Brett Velzis, AJ Pietrafesa, Aidan Henderson, and Jake Houston each had one with doubles from Aten and Velzis.
• Pietrafesa and Estrada each drove in three runs.
• Aten, Velzis, Tropea, and Perito all drove in one run.
• Tropea scored four times with Aten, Velzis, and Perito all scoring twice. Zach Sylvia, Pietrafesa, Henderson and Ely each scored once.
• Tropea and Perito were credited with stolen bases in the victory.
• Estrada hit three sacrifice flies, Pietrafesa had one.

Fitchburg

• Adam Koza, Matthew Kelly, and Cole DuHaime each had two hits.
• Devin Lorae, Liam Goldstein, Matthew Smith, Nolan Hills, and Zachary Malek all had one hit in the loss.
• Koza hit a double, the only extra base hit of the game for the Falcons.
• Goldstein, Smith and Koza drove in one run apiece.
• Maxwell Kelly, Goldsten, and DuHaime scored the three runs for Fitchburg.
• Koza and DuHaime both had a stolen base in the loss.

How It Happened

Maritime scored in the top of the first plating two runs on a Pietrafesa single that scored Aten and then Tropea on an error by the Fitchburg center fielder. In the bottom of the inning, Fitchburg got one back on Koza's double to left center. The Bucs held a 2-1 lead after one inning.

After holding the Bucs to no runs in the top of the second, the Falcons scored another in the bottom of the frame on a Goldstein single to tie the game at 2-2-.

In the top of the third, the Buccaneers took the lead back, this time for good, scoring three runs. The first came on an Estrada sacrifice fly scoring Tropea. The second run came in on a fielding error by the Falcons allowing Pietrafesa to score. The third run came on a walk of Sylvia and a wild pitch that allowed Henderson to come across the plate. The Bucs led 5-2 after two and a half innings of play.

It was all Bucs the remainder of the game as they scored in every inning except the fifth and ninth. In the fourth the Buccaneers extended their lead to 7-2 scoring a run on a Pietrafesa sacrifice fly and another on an Estrada sac fly. 

In the top of the sixth, Tropea scored one a wild pitch to make it 8-2. 

Maritime scored three in the seventh inning on an Aten single that scored Perito, a bases-loaded walk of Pietrafesa that scored Aten, and Estrada's third sacrifice fly of the game that scored Velzis. The Bucs lead was up to nine runs, 11-2 in the seventh.

In the top of the eighth, the Bucs struck again for three runs. Perito singled to score Ely, Velzis doubled bringing in Perito to score and Tropea grounded out to first base and Sylvia scored from third. The Falcons would add their third run in the bottom of the eighth inning when Smith singled to score DuHaime but that would be all they would get as Brown and Dwight did their jobs to secure the 14-3 victory for the Buccaneers.

What's Next

The Buccaneers and Falcons are back at it on Saturday in Buzzards Bay for a conference doubleheader to close out their three-game series. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 12pm.