Salem State Takes Two from Baseball

Northborough, Mass. – The Framingham State University baseball team dropped both ends of a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) baseball doubleheader this afternoon at the New England Baseball Complex falling 6-1 in the opener with Salem State before the Vikings came from behind for an 8-6 victory in the night cap.

With the wins, the Vikings improve to 19-17 on the year and 8-4 in the league, while the Rams dip to 14-19 overall and are now 4-8 in the MASCAC.

The Vikings tallied a pair of runs in the top of the first inning of the opener to take the early lead. Brendan Greene (Winchester, Mass.) doubled to lead off the game and Joe Kasper (Lynn, Mass.) followed with a double scoring Greene.  Joe Whiter (Bellingham, Mass.) plated Kasper with a sacrifice fly to deep left.

The Vikings doubled the advantage in the top of third on RBI single from Dan Connors (Danvers, Mass.) and Alex Toomey (Beverly, Mass.).

The Rams received their only run in the game on a solo homerun to deep left by senior Ryan Wardwell (Hudson, Mass.) in the bottom of the fourth.

The Vikings tacked on two more runs in the top of the fifth to reach the final margin. Kasper and White finished the game with two RBI apiece.

Steve Leavitt (Peabody, Mass.) earned the win for the Vikings going seven innings and allowing one earned run on two hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

Junior Mike Raymond (Stoneham, Mass.) took the loss for the rams going four innings and allowing six earned runs on seven hits with a strikeout and a walk.  Sophomore Kyle Hodgson (Berkley, Mass.) and classmate Michael Raymond (Peabody, Mass.) combined for three scoreless innings of relief.

In game two, the Vikings once again got on the scoreboard first on an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Kasper in the top of the third inning.

In the bottom of the frame the Rams grabbed the lead.  Senior Manny Powers (Malden, Mass.) singled with runners on the corners to tie the score and sophomore Jordan Pallazola (Rockport, Mass.) belted a three run homerun to left for the 4-1 lead.

A solo homerun from Toomey in the top of the fourth cut the deficit to 4-2 for the Vikings who went on to take the lead in the top of the fifth.  White plated a run with a single and Andrew Deloury (Andover, Mass.) plated two with a double as the Vikings led 6-4.

The Vikings capitalized on a pair of Ram errors in the top of the sixth to extend the lead to 8-4.  The Rams loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning and sophomore Kyle Dembrowski (Natick, Mass.) delivered a pinch hit two RBI single to right cutting the deficit to 8-6. Salem was able to work out of the jam in the sixth without any further damage and retired the Rams in the seventh to secure the victory.

Junior Al Wallach (Nahant, Mass.) took the loss on the hill for the Rams going four and a third allowing six runs, five earned, on nine hits with a walk and a strikeout.

Freshman Richie Sharp (Townsend, Mass.) earned the victory for the Vikings going five and a third and allowing six runs, five earned, on seven hits.

The Rams are back in action on Friday when they travel to Keene State at 3:30 p.m., while the Vikings host Fitchburg State in a pair of MASCAC games on Saturday at 12 p.m.