Baseball Salvages Split with Game Two Victory over Westfield State
Framingham, Mass. –The Framingham State University baseball team split a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) doubleheader this afternoon with Westfield State at Bowditch Field. The Owls capitalized on the Rams sloppy fielding to win game one 9-1, while the Rams rebounded with four extra base hits including a pair of homeruns to win game two 7-2.
With the split the Rams improve to 16-11 overall on the season and 4-2 in the conference, while the Owls are now 3-3 in the MASCAC and 11-14 overall.
Westfield State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first in game one. Senior Matt Kelly (Weymouth, Mass.), junior Andrew Medeiros (Acushnet, Mass.) and senior Aaron Messier (New Bedford, Mass.) all singled to load the bases and freshman Tim Santilli (Southbridge, Mass.) drove in two with a base hit.
The Rams got one back in the bottom of the inning as senior Chris Blydell (Lynn, Mass.) hit a solo shot center.
That was as close as the Rams would get in the opener as the Owls tacked on three in the second as they took advantage of a pair of Framingham errors. Two more unearned runs in the fourth and two in the sixth extended the Owls lead to 9-1.
Junior Bret Stiflinger (Framingham, Mass.) tossed a complete game surrendering just the one run on four hits with seven strikeouts and four walks. Sophomore Matt DiCato (Winthrop, Mass.) picked up the loss for the Rams going 5.2 innings and surrendering nine runs, five earned, with six strikeouts.
Blydell led the Rams with three hits including the homerun, while sophomore Matt Roberge (Lowell, Mass.) accounted for the other hit.
Santilli went 1-for-3 at the plate for the Owls with two RBI, while Medeiros went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Kelley, freshman Dan Rokitowski (Wappingers Fall, NY), junior Kevin Greene (Worcester, Mass.) and sophomore Kyle Colesanti (Mount Kisco, NY) each collected two hits.
In game two, the Rams used the long ball to break open a 2-1 game in the bottom of the third inning. Blydell led off the inning with a single and was sacrificed over to second. Senior Pedro Acevedo (Fall River, Mass.) reached on an error scoring Blydell to tie the game. Sophomore Ivan Colon (Waltham, Mass.) followed with what would prove to be the game winning hit, a two run shot to left center.
Blydell extended the Rams lead to 5-2 in the fourth with an RBI single. A solo homerun by Roberge and an RBI double off the bat of Chris Cole (Lynn, Mass.) accounted for the Rams final two runs in the fifth.
Senior Ryan Stoller (Milton, Mass.) recorded the win on the hill improving his season record to 2-2. Stoller went 4.1 innings allowing two runs, both earned, on four hits with five walks and three strikeouts. Sophomore Brendan Busa (Framingham, Mass.) worked 2.2 innings of scoreless relief without surrendering a hit.
Freshman Mike Molta (Nantucket, Mass.) was tagged with the loss for the Owls going five innings and allowing seven runs, four earned, on 11 hits with four strikeouts. Greene picked up two hits for the Owls in game two.
Blydell went 2-for-4 in game two with a run scored and an RBI, while Cole went 3-of-3 with two doubles and an RBI. Roberge also picked up a pair of hits in the game, while Colon drove in a pair of runs.
Both teams resume MASCAC action on Monday with the Rams traveling to Worcester State at noon and the Owls hosting Salem State at noon.