Baseball Advances with 6-3 Victory over Top Seed Mass. Maritime

Buzzards Bay, Mass. – Behind a stellar pitching performance from sophomore Mike Andrews (Stoneham, Mass.) and three runs driven in by junior RJ Gray (Lowell, Mass.) the fourth seeded Framingham State University baseball team knocked off the top seed Massachusetts Maritime Buccaneers in a second round game of the 2015 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Baseball Tournament.

With the victory, the Rams improve to 26-16 on the year and advance to the winner's bracket of the tournament. The Rams will face second seeded Salem State University in Buzzards Bay at 12:30 p.m.

The loss drops the Buccaneers to 17-11 on the year and they fall into the loser's bracket where they will meet third seeded Worcester State University tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. in an elimination game.

Framingham State grabbed a 2-0 second inning lead on an RBI double by freshman Jordan Pallazola (Rockport, Mass.) and a sacrifice fly by Gray, who extended that margin to 3-0 in the fourth with a run-scoring single.  

Massachusetts Maritime evened matters with a three-run rally in the bottom of the fourth, as junior Everett Walsh (Marstons Mills, Mass.) doubled and scored on a one-out error before freshman William Keane (Braintree, Mass.) plated the second Buccaneer tally with an RBI two-bagger.  Fellow freshman Tyler Chaisson (Newburyport, Mass.) tied the game with a single that scored Keane, but the Rams answered back with a three-run rally of their own in the fifth, as all of the runs came with two outs.  Singles by seniors Ivan Colon (Waltham, Mass.) and Billy Derosier (Shrewsbury, Mass.) sandwiched a walk to senior Mark Mainini (Hull, Mass.), and a bases-loaded walk to senior John Gill (Hudson, Mass.) plated the go-ahead run.  Pallazola followed with a bases-loaded walk on another 3-2 pitch that gave the visitors a two-run cushion, as Gray's infield single capped the rally and accounted for the final score.

Andrews allowed eight hits and just one earned run while striking out seven in going the distance for Framingham State, as he threw 85 of his 131 pitches for strikes in improving to 5-4 on the season.  

Junior Jake Wardwell (Hudson, Mass.) paced a 10-hit Rams' attack by going 3-for-4 on the afternoon, while Gray collected two hits as well for the winners.  

Keane rapped out two of Massachusetts Maritime's eight hits in the setback, as both he and senior Bobby Rosano (North Reading, Mass.) joined Walsh with doubles on the day.  

Junior Kevin Kwedor (Marshfield, Mass.) allowed six hits and walked four while striking out seven in falling to 6-3 on the mound for the Buccaneers, while senior Zac Cooney (East Bridgewater, Mass.) fanned eight in a 4 1/3 relief innings for the hosts.

Portions of release courtesy of MMA Media Relations.