Baseball Drops a Pair against Hamilton

Winter Haven, Fla. – The Framingham State University baseball team dropped a pair of game this afternoon to Hamilton College in non-conference action at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. 

Hamilton Lukas Bridenbeck finished with three hits including two doubles, four runs batted in and three runs scored as the Continentals (2-0) won the first game 11-3, and completed the sweep with an 8-3 victory.

In the first game, Alex Pachella pitched a complete game, allowing eight hits and two earned runs, while striking out four batters. Bridenbeck singled, doubled, knocked in three runs and scored two. Tim Burke went 2-for 3 with a double, three runs and one RBI in his first collegiate game. Gabe Klein also finished with two hits and three runs. Joe Jensen had one hit, three stolen bases and two RBI.

For the Rams (1-4), sophomore infielder Cameron Coulliard (North Andover, Mass.) was a perfect 3-for-3 with a double and junior Ivan Colon (Waltham, Mass.) went 3-for-4, while senior Justin Forman (Watertown, Mass.) drove in two runs.

Hamilton scored a pair of runs in each of the first two innings to take a 4-0 lead. After loading the bases in the first inning, Burke and Klein scored on an errant throw by the Rams. With two outs in the second, Burke drove in Sam Fuentes from first with his double to right center and then scored when Klein reached on an error.

Framingham State responded with three runs in the third to cut the deficit to 4-3, but could not get any closer. The Rams loaded the bases with two outs when Forman singled up the middle to drive in a pair of runners. Colon also scored in the inning.

In the fifth, Bridenbeck doubled in a run and Jensen knocked home another with a single. With runners on second and third, Nick Taylor hit a sac fly to score Bridenbeck and Jensen scored on a passed ball to take an 8-3 lead into the sixth.

The Continentals tacked on three more runs in their half of the sixth to round out the scoring.

In game two, Hamilton was led by four players who recorded multi-hit games. Ben Goffin and Zach Becker each posted two hits, with a double and two RBI. Klein went 2-for-3 with a double and Taylor had two hits and two runs. Colin Henneberger scattered eight hits and three runs over 5.1 innings.

Sophomore Mark Mainini (Hull, Mass.), Couillard, senior Will Crofton (Hopkinton, Mass.) and junior Billy Desrosier (Shrewsbury, Mass.) all finished with two hits for Framingham State, while Desrosier also knocked in a run.

Hamilton exploded for a five-run first and never looked back to take control of the game. Klein double to put runners on second and third, and Goffin followed it up with a double of his own down the left field line to plate both runners. Bridenbeck doubled in Goffin and after two wild pitches, scored to make it a 4-0 game. After loading the bases, Fuentes drew the third straight walk in the inning as Taylor scored on the play for the innings final run.

The Rams scored one run in both the first and second to pull within 5-2, and both teams traded runs in the third as Hamilton led 6-3 entering the fourth. With one out, Framingham loaded the bases and Desrosier singled up the middle to give the Rams their first run. The bases were still loaded, but the Continentals turned a double play to keep Framingham from scoring any more. In the second, freshman Jake Wardwell's (Hudson, Mass.) one-out double drove in a run.

In the top half of third, Becker knocked in Tyler Reinhold with a single after Reinhold smacked a two-out double. The Rams answered back with a run of their own after loading the bases with no outs as Forman plated Croton on a fielder's choice.

The Continentals added two more runs in the fifth inning for the game's final score with singles by Becker and Burke.

The Rams return to action tomorrow when they take on Endicott at 3 p.m.

Release courtesy of Hamilton Sports Information.