Baseball Holds off Late Charge by NEC for 7-6 Victory

Auburndale, Fla. – The Framingham State University baseball team held off a ninth inning rally by the Pilgrims of New England College to secure a 7-6 victory this afternoon at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.

The Rams are now 3-2 on the season, while the Pilgrims drop to 3-6 on the year.

New England College took a 2-0 lead with single runs in their first two at bats, but the Rams used three in the fifth and three in the sixth to take a four run advantage.  Senior Billy Derosier (Shrewsbury, Mass.) drove in two runs in the fifth with a double to right and classmate Matt Gerard (Milford, Mass.) plated a pair in the sixth with his two RBI double to center. 

Senior Kevin Driscoll (Chelmsford, Mass.) added what would prove to be the game deciding run in the seventh with his RBI single that plated senior Ivan Colon (Waltham, Mass.) who had walked to lead off the inning.

The Pilgrims made things interesting with four runs in the ninth as they took advantage of a pair of Ram fielding miscues, but Chris Riga was able to come on and induce the final out.

Junior Chris Monroe (Ayer, Mass.) earned the victory on the hill in his first start of the year. Monroe went eight innings allowing two runs, both earned, on five hits with three walks and a strikeout.

Gerard led the Rams at the plate going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI, while senior Mark Mainini (Hull, Mass.) and junior Jake Wardwell (Hudson, Mass.) chipped in with two hits apiece.

The Rams are back in action tomorrow in Florida with a pair of games against Amherst College.