Callahan’s Walk off Grand Slam Lifts Baseball to 20-19 Win over Eastern Nazarene

Framingham, Mass. — Junior Sean Callahan (Watertown, Mass.) hit a two out grand slam in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Framingham State College baseball team to a 20-19 win over Eastern Nazarene in non-conference action this afternoon at Framingham’s Bowditch Field.  The Rams improve to 16-14 on the season, while the Lions are now 15-19.    

Callahan picked up a career-high ten RBI in the game as he went 2-for-7 at the plate with two home runs.  Callahan picked up an RBI in each of his first three at bats as he reached on three fielder’s choices with the bases loaded before hitting a three run homer to center in the fourth. 

The Rams seemed to have the game under control after they opened up a 14-0 lead after four innings as they capitalized on seven errors by Eastern Nazarene to score nine unearned runs.  Junior outfielder Steven Tramontozzi (Watertown, Mass.) drove in three runs in the first four innings with a pair of doubles and a sacrifice fly, while Joe Sheehan (Watertown, Mass.) drove in a pair with a sacrifice fly and a hit by pitch with the bases loaded in the second.  Freshman Will Crofton (Hopkinton, Mass.) continued his hot streak as he went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI.

In the top of the fifth the Lions began to claw their way back into the game as they capitalized on two walks and a Framingham error to score five runs and make the score 14-5.  Catcher Johan Villalona (Bronx, NY) and Luke Matthews (Boise, ID) picked up RBI singles in the inning while Jose Devillar (Boston, Mass.) drove in a pair on a single to center.

The Rams added a single run in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Crofton to extend their lead back to ten runs and in the sixth as senior Marc Massarotti (Watertown, Mass.) hit his second career homerun to give the Rams a 16-5.

Eastern Nazarene’s bats came alive in the seventh as they scored seven runs to cut the Rams lead to 16-12.  The big hits in the inning were a two run double by Matthews, a two run single from Justin Denbow (Readville, ME) and a two run homer from Alexander Alcantara (Bronx, NY). 

In the eighth the Lions completed their comeback knotting the score at 16-16.  The Rams pitching struggled in the eighth walking three batters and hitting another in the frame.  Matthews drove in two in the inning on a single to right and Villalona drove in the other on a walk with the bases load.

ENC relief pitcher Gregg Olsen (San Diego, CA), who came on in relief in the fourth inning, retired the Rams in order in the eighth setting the stage for the Lions to take their first lead. 

In the top of the ninth, Jonathan Ovalles (Bronx, NY) was hit by a pitch to lead the inning off and advanced to second on a single from Joe Steinwedell (La Jolla, CA).  After a fly out, Brandon Dauo (Bronx, NY) hit what appeared to be a double play ball but the throw from second base sailed high allowing Ovalles to come around and score the go ahead run.  Danny Rodriques (Bronx, NY) followed with an RBI double putting the Lions up two and came around to score on another Framingham error in the inning giving the Lions a 19-16 lead.

In the bottom of the inning, Chris Brassard (Fitchburg, Mass.) reached on an error with one out and advanced to second on a single by Evan Ruddock (Boxford, Mass.).  After a fly out, J.J. Sorensen (Westerly, RI) singled to load the bases with two down setting the stage for Callahan’s game winning grand slam. 

Eastern Nazarene committed nine errors in the game leading to 13 unearned runs, while the Rams committed five in the game leading to seven unearned runs for the Lions.  Olson picked up the loss going 5 innings in relief allowing six runs, two earned, on eight hits with five strike outs and two walks.  Rams pitchers walked eight batters in the game and hit five batters.  Kevin Loveless (Wakefield, Mass.) picked up the win going the final two innings allowing four runs, one earned, on four hits.

The Rams return to action on Friday as they travel to Lasell at 3:30 p.m., while the Lions host Roger Williams on Saturday at 11 a.m.