Baseball Advances in MASCAC Tournament with 8-6 12-Inning Victory over Fitchburg State
Northborough, Mass. – The third seed Framingham State University baseball team scored a pair of runs in the top of the 12th inning and received 4 and 2/3 innings of scoreless relief from junior Kevin Scerra (Marlborough, Mass.) as the Rams defeated second seed Fitchburg State 8-6 in 12 innings in one quarterfinal of the 2019 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Baseball Tournament at the New England Baseball Complex.
THE BASICS:
- Scores: Framingham State 8, Fitchburg State 6 (12 Innings)
- Records: Framingham State (22-17), Fitchburg State (23-15)
- Location: New England Baseball Complex – Northborough, Mass.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Framingham State grabbed a 2-0 advantage in the top of the first on an RBI fielder's choice by junior Bobby Higgins (Barnstable, Mass.) before senior Kyle Lippert (Carlsbad, Calif.) crossed the plate on a delayed run down.
- Fitchburg State cut the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the second when junior Joshua Macomber (Berkley, Mass.) homered to right field.
- The Rams upped their margin to 3-1 in the top of the third on a solo shot from junior Cory Caraher (Plymouth, Mass.).
- Two in the bottom of the fifth for the Falcons tied the game, but the Rams responded with two in the top of the sixth for the 5-3 lead. Freshman Gino DeSimone (Medford, Mass.) hit a sacrifice fly to left and Caraher doubled to center plating the other run.
- Trailing 5-3 in the seventh frame, the Falcons knotted the score at 5-5 as sophomore Nicholas Cordeau (Melrose, Mass.) launched his team-leading eighth homer on the season over the right center field fence.
- Framingham State regained the lead in the top of the eighth, with senior Kyle Dembrowski (Natick, Mass.) coming home after DeSimone got into a run down with runners on the corners to make the score 6-5.
- Fitchburg State would answer back in the bottom of the eighth when junior Matthew Pingitore (Rutland, Mass.) laced an RBI single to right field.
- The Rams broke the 6-6 stalemate in the top of the 12th as DeSimone drove in junior Andrew Curtis (Dracut, Mass.) with a grounder to second with runners on the corners. Lippert later walked in the inning with the bases loaded resulting in the 8-6 final.
- Scerra earned the win in relief going 4 and 2/3s allowing just four hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Senior Al Wallach (Nahant, Mass.) started on the bump for the Rams and did not factor in the decision. Wallach went seven innings allowing five runs, three earned, on seven hits with four strikeouts.
UP NEXT:
With the victory, the Rams advance in the winner's bracket of the tournament and will face top seed Westfield State on Thursday at 3 p.m. in Westfield, while the Falcons will host Bridgewater State tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. in an elimination game.