Baseball Closes Season with Loss to Anna Maria in ECAC Semifinals

Beverly, Mass. – The Framingham State University baseball team closed the 2012 season this afternoon with a 9-1 loss to Anna Maria College in one semifinal of the 2012 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Baseball Tournament.

The third seed Amcats improve to 24-17 on the year and will with meet top seed Endicott College later this afternoon in the championship game.  The two teams shared the rain-shortened ECAC Division III New England baseball title last year.

The second seed Rams end their campaign at 26-17 which establish a new season best win totoal for the Rams.

The Amcats did most of their damage in the first two innings when they jumped out to a 6-0 lead. The visitors got two runs in the first on a double by Carlos Ortiz (Worcester, Mass.). Mike Guarnieri (Wallingford, Conn.) added an RBI single to give the Amcats a 3-0 advantage in the second and Anna Maria would double that lead in the same inning on a three-run homerun to right field by second baseman Justin Hyland (Spencer, Mass.).

Hyland was 2-4 on the day with four RBIs, adding a run-producing single to center in the sixth inning. The Amcats grabbed two more runs an inning later, helped by an RBI single by left fielder Padraig Gilman (Leominster, Mass.).

Gilman was 3-4 on the afternoon and scored twice, while first baseman Matt Nelson (Framingham, Mass.) had a 2-5 day at the plate and was one of five Amcats with multiple hits in the game, as Anna Maria outhit the Rams 14-13.

Seven players on the Rams reached base with hits, five of them more than once, including Justin Forman (Watertown, Mass.), who went 3-4 on the day. Framingham State got their run in the fifth inning when right fielder Will Crofton (Hopkinton, Mass.) singled home center fielder Chris Blydell (Lynn, Mass.). Both Blydell and Crofton had 2-4 days for the Rams.

Jeff Scafidi (Worcester, Mass.) gave Anna Maria a five-inning effort on the mound allowing one run on nine hits without walking a
batter. Scafidi improved to 6-2 on the season, while Lucas Davis (Spencer, Mass.) pitched the final four
innings without surrendering a run and allowing just four singles with a strikeout.

Sophomore Matthew DiCato (Winthrop, Mass.) fell to 7-3 on the year after giving up seven earned runs on 12 hits in five and two-thirds innings of work. Seniors Rob McLaughlin (Plymouth, Mass.) and Ryan Stoller (Milton, Mass.) each worked scoreless innings of relief in their final collegiate action.

Release courtesy of Endicott Sports Information.