Baseball Falls to Plymouth State 6-1

Northborough, Mass. – The Framingham State University baseball team surrendered a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to break a scoreless tie as the Rams were defeated 6-1 by Plymouth State this afternoon in non-conference action at the New England Baseball Complex.

With the win, the Panthers are now 1-0 on the year, while the Rams slip to 0-3.

The Rams received eight solid innings from starter Chris Riga (Westfield, Mass.), but he was tagged with the loss.  Riga allowed three runs, all unearned, on three hits with seven strikeouts and five walks.

The Panthers received a solid start from junior David Sampson who went five and a third and allowed one earned on no hits with eight strikeouts and four walks.  Junior Dylan Gaita tossed three and two thirds innings of relief and allowed just three hits with six strikeouts and did not surrender a run.

The game was scoreless through five but the Panthers got on the board in the top of the sixth inning.  Junior Josh Goulet walked and was sacrificed to second.  He came around to score on an error by the Rams.  An RBI fielder's choice accounted for the Panther's second run in the inning.

The Rams got a run back in the bottom of the inning as Matt Brockett (Guilford, Conn.) was hit by a pitch and moved to third on a pass ball and wild pitch. After an out, junior Jordan Pallazola (Rockport, Mass.) walked putting runners on the corners.  A fielder's choice eliminated Brockett at the plate, but senior Cameron Borrelli (Peabody, Mass.) followed with an RBI single to right cutting the lead to 2-1.

Plymouth State loaded the bases in the top of the eighth with no outs, but Riga was able to work out of the jam surrendering just one run on a fielder's choice.  Plymouth State would add three more in the top of the ninth including an RBI single by Geoff Kayo to reach the final margin.

The Rams are back in action on Saturday in Arizona when they face Augsburg, while the Panthers face Lyndon State on Sunday at Franklin Pierce.