Baseball’s Comeback Falls Short Against UMass Boston

Northboro, Mass. – The Framingham State University baseball team rallied for five runs in the bottom of the ninth, but it was not enough as the Rams were defeated 7-5 by the University of Massachusetts Boston in non-conference action at the New England Baseball Complex.   

With the win, the Beacons improve to 9-7 on the year, while the loss drops the Rams to 12-7.

Both teams had their chances early to break into the scoring column, but neither team could convert on their opportunities with the bases loaded.  The Rams appeared to have scored the go ahead run in the fourth on a fly ball to the outfield, but the runner on the back end of the play was called for leaving the base early and negating the run.  .

The Beacons capitalized on a pair of Framingham errors in the top of the sixth to score the game's first runs.  With runners on first and second runner junior Trevor Bouvier (Salem, NH) laid down a sacrifice bunt and the Rams went for the lead runner at third but the throw sailed into left allowing the run to score.  A walk loaded the bases and following an out, freshman Josh Lopez (New Haven, Conn.) plated the second run with a sacrifice fly.

The Beacons tacked on five more in the top of the ninth which provided the cushion needed to secure the victory.  Sophomore Anthony Searles (Shelton, Conn.) worked a bases loaded walk and a ground rule double from senior Charlie LaPaglia (Marshfield, Mass.) plated two more.  A sacrifice fly and a ground out accounted for the final two runs of the inning. 

The Rams got their offense going in the bottom half of the inning when senior Kevin Driscoll (Chelmsford, Mass.) belted a two run homerun to left to erase the shutout.  Three straight walks loaded the bases with one out.  Junior R.J. Gray followed with an RBI infield single and senior Mark Mainini (Hull, Mass.) reached on an error in the Beacon infield allowing another run to score.  Senior Ivan Colon (Waltham, Mass.) was hit by a pitch driving in the final run as freshman Steve Witkowski (Pittsfield, Mass.) came on in relief to record the final two outs.

The Rams are back in action Tuesday afternoon when they travel to Western New England for a non-conference match up beginning at 3:30 p.m., while Beacons travel to Salem State tomorrow for a non-conference matchup at 3:30 p.m.