Baseball Advances in MASCAC Tournament with 9-3 Victory over Westfield State
Framingham, Mass. – The second seed Framingham State University baseball team advances to the winner's bracket after defeating third seed Westfield State University 9-3 this afternoon in one quarterfinal of the 2013 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Baseball Championship at Bowditch Field.
With the win, the Rams improve to 17-21 on the year and advance to the winner's round game on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. against top seed Salem State University, who defeated Worcester State, 7-1, earlier this afternoon in the other quarterfinal.
With the loss, the Owls are now 17-20 on the season and will play an elimination game on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. against Worcester State. Both games and the remainder of the double elimination tournament will be played at top seed Salem State University on Saturday with the Championship Round following on Sunday afternoon.
The Rams grabbed the lead in the bottom of the third as they capitalized on three Westfield errors to score four unearned runs. Junior Billy Desroiser (Shrewsbury, Mass.) led off the inning with a single down the leftfield line and was sacrificed over to second. Sophomore Cameron Couillard (North Andover, Mass.) followed with a slow grounder to third that caused the infielder to rush his throw and it sailed out of play allowing Desroiser to cross the plate with the first run. Senior Justin Forman (Watertown, Mass.) followed with an RBI single to left and after junior Anthony Iafolla (Medfield, Mass.) reached on another Westfield error senior Will Crofton (Hopkinton, Mass.) plated a pair with a rope down the leftfield line.
Framingham State added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth as they took advantage of another WSU fielding miscue with Couillard delivering a run on a single and Crofton doubling in another. Sophomore Mark Mainini (Hull, Mass.) legged out an infield hit to score the Rams third run of the inning and push the advantage to 7-0.
The Owls got on the board in the top of the fifth as sophomore Tim Santilli (Southbridge, Mass.) reached on a single. A double by freshman Connor Sheridan (South Hadley, Mass.) gave them runners on second and third with one out. Sophomore Jeremy Tanguay (Huntington, Mass.) followed with a fly ball to right and Santilli was able to slide around the tag at the plate after the throw had beat him there, cutting the deficit to 7-1.
Framingham State countered with two in the bottom of the frame on a two RBI single through the left side by Iafolla with two outs and the bases loaded that extended the lead to 9-1.
The Owls added a pair of runs in the top of the eighth on an RBI double to deep center off the bat of senior Kevin Greene (Worcester, Mass.) that scored sophomore Pat McWilliams (Duxbury, Mass.), who had walked with two out. Senior Andrew Medeiros (Acushnet, Mass.) followed with a single down the leftfield line scoring Greene to reach the final margin 9-3.
Junior Matt DiCato (Winthrop, Mass.), the 2013 MASCAC Baseball Pitcher of the Year, recorded his seventh victory of the season on the hill today as he tossed his seventh complete game. DiCato allowed just three runs, all earned, on nine hits with a walk and three strikeouts.
Junior Kevin Zyrkowski (Hingham, Mass.) was tagged with the loss for the Owls as he went four innings surrendering seven runs, all unearned, on eight hits with a walk and five strikeouts. Freshman Joe Alibrandi (Quincy, Mass.) tossed three innings of relief and gave up two runs on three hits, before giving way to Connor Buckley (Acton, Mass.) and Josh Raymond (Lancaster, Mass.) who combined for an inning of scoreless relief.
The Rams were led at the plate by Iafolla who went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI and Crofton who went 2-for-5 with three RBI. Couillard picked up a pair of hits and scored three times.
The Owls were led offensively by freshman Tyler Adams (West Barnstable, Mass.) who went 2-for-4, while Greene, Medeiros and Tanguay all drove in runs with their one hit in the game.