Baseball Hits Three Homers but Comeback Falls Short as Rams Fall to Becker 9-7
Framingham, Mass. – The Framingham State University baseball team rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning but it was not enough as the Rams were defeated 9-7 by Becker College in non-conference action at Bowditch Field.
With the win, the Hawks improve to 9-10 on the year, while the Rams fall to 10-11.
Becker got on the board in the top of the first as freshman Chris Testa (Providence, RI) led off with a double down the leftfield line and was sacrificed over to third. Junior Matt Consigli (Whitinsville, Mass.) followed with a blooper to right center driving in Testa. The Hawks added a second run on an RBI double by freshman Randall Minogue (N. Kingstown, RI) and two more runs came home on a double to center off the bat of freshman T.J. Sempkowski (Oceanport, NJ). Becker extended the lead to 5-0 on Trevor Read's (Colorado Springs, Colo.) RBI single to left as four of Becker's five runs in the first came with two outs.
The Hawks tacked on another run in the top of the third on an RBI single to left by Testa.
Senior Matt Roberge (Lowell, Mass.) led off the bottom of the third with a solo homerun to center to get the Rams on the board. After an out, junior Mark Mainini (Hull, Mass.) launched a homer to right cutting the deficit to 6-2.
Becker added another run in the top of the sixth. Back-to-back hits by Consigli and senior Tom Natoli (Suffern, N.Y.) gave the Hawks runners on second and third with no outs. Classmate Mike Marcello (West Haven, Conn.) followed with an RBI groundout pushing the lead to 7-2.
Junior John Gill (Hudson, Mass.) doubled to deep center with two outs in the bottom of the sixth for the Rams and Roberge followed with an RBI single down the leftfield line to pull the Rams back within four (7-3).
Natoli scored on a wild pitch in the top of the eighth after leading the inning off with a walk to push the Hawks lead to 8-3, but a solo homerun, the Rams third off the game, off the bat of junior Kevin Driscoll (Chelmsford, Mass.) cut the deficit back to four.
Junior Keon Jenkins (Nashua, N.H.) led off the top of the ninth with a single and came around to score on a wild pitch to push the advantage back to five for the Hawks.
In the bottom of the inning, Mainini worked a walk to lead the frame off and advanced to second on a wild pitch. R.J. Gray (Lowell, Mass.) followed with a single giving the Rams runners on the corners. Junior Ivan Colon (Waltham, Mass.) doubled to left driving in Mainini giving the Rams runners on second and third with no out. Gray scampered home on a wild pitch and Colon scored on a Manny Powers (Malden, Mass.) sacrifice fly. The Hawks went to their bull pen and sophomore Nick Lemay (Oxford, Mass.) was able to secure the final two outs.
Read finished the game 3-for-5 for the Hawks with a double and RBI, while Consigli went 3-for-6 with two runs scored and an RBI. Natoli and Testa finished with two hits apiece for the Hawks.
Roberge finished the game 3-for-5 with a homerun and two RBI for the Rams, while Driscoll went 2-for-5 with a homerun. Gill finished the game with a pair of doubles, while Colon also picked up two hits.
The Rams are back in action tomorrow at Western New England at 3:30 p.m., while the Hawks are back in action on Saturday when they host Southern Vermont for a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m.