Baseball Opens Season with a Pair of Losses to Anna Maria College
Winter Haven, Fla. – The Framingham State University baseball team opened the 2012 season this afternoon with a doubleheader against Anna Maria College at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. The Rams were defeated by the Amcats 10-2 in game one and 11-2 in the night cap.
In the first game, Anna Maria (2-0) junior Kevin Wodatch (Wallingford, Conn.) went 3-for-5 in with three homeruns and five RBI. Senior Jeff Scafidi (Worcester, Mass.) picked up the victory on the mound for the Amcats allowing one earned run on three hits, while freshman Brandon Normandin (Oxford, Mass.) surrendered four hits in three innings of relief with just one earned run.
Anna Maria scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first to take the early lead as Wodatch led off the game with his first homer and Scafidi scored a few batters later on a failed pickoff attempt. The Amcats added four in the top of the second to extend their lead to 6-0.
The Rams (0-2) got on the board in the bottom of the second as sophomore Matt Roberge (Lowell, Mass.) doubled and came around to score on an RBI single through the left side by senior Chris Cole (Lynn, Mass.).
Anna Maria added two in the third and two in the fifth to extend their lead and the Rams added a lone run in the fifth on a homerun from sophomore catcher Tony Iafolla (Medfield, Mass.) to reach the margin of 10-2.
Senior Ryan Stoller (Milton, Mass.) started for the Rams picking up the loss as he surrendered seven runs on seven hits in two innings of work before giving way to classmate Rob McLaughlin (Plymouth, Mass.) who tossed five innings of relief. McLaughlin allowed three earned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts in what was his first appearance of the season.
The Rams got on the board first in the second game with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Junior Will Crofton (Hopkinton, Mass.) singled and senior outfielder Chris Blydell (Lynn, Mass.) and Roberge walked to load the bases. Freshman John Gill (Hudson, Mass.) singled in Crofton for his first collegiate hit and RBI and classmate Mark Mainini (Hull, Mass.) walked to score Blydell.
Anna Maria answered with an unearned run in the second when Carlos Ortiz reached on an error driving in the Amcats first run of the game. The Amcats added two more unearned runs in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead.
A pair of runs in the fifth and six in the sixth put the game out of reach as the Amcats capitalized on four Ram errors in the game to plate seven unearned runs.
Sophomore Matt DiCato (Winthrop, Mass.) picked up the loss going four innings and allowing three runs, none earned, on three hits with three walks and five strike outs. Freshman Zach Kirby (Rochester, Mass.) made his first appearance surrendering two earned runs on a hit with two walks, while classmate Patrick Murray (Framingham, Mass.) tossed two innings of relief allowing six runs, two earned on five hits.
Senior Zach Rafferty (Worcester, Mass.) picked up the win for the Amcats going 4.2 innings allowing two runs on three hits with nine walks and seven strikeouts. Dean Diamantopoulos (Shrewsbury, Mass.) pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless relief allowing just two hits.
The Rams return to action tomorrow morning with a pair of games against St. Joseph's College (ME) with game one slated to start at 9 a.m.