Softball Falls Twice at NTC Games

Clermont, Fla. – The Framingham State University softball team continued play this morning at the NTC Games with a pair of loss. The Rams were defeated by Amherst College 13-4 in five innings and edged by Lawrence University 2-0 in the day's second game.

The Rams plated three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-1 lead over Amherst College after one.  Junior Alyssa Begin (Salem, Mass.) and Andrea Smith (Milford, Mass.) led off the inning with back-to-back walks.  After a pair of outs, freshman Jess Anthony (Stoneham, Mass.) plated Begin with a double through the left side and junior Kyle Fortin (Candia, NH) followed with a two run double to right center.

After a scoreless second frame, Amherst College exploded for nine runs in the top of the third as they batted around to take control of the game. 

Framingham State tacked on a run in the bottom of the fourth as freshman Emily Kattau (Gardner, Mass.) scored when Begin reached on an error, but Amherst added a pair of unearned run in the top of the fifth to end the game early.

In game two of the day, the Rams had a runner on third base in each of the first two innings, but could not score.  Lawrence was able to get on the board first with a run in the third inning to take the lead for good and an insurance run in the fifth pushed their lead to two.

The Rams had runners in scoring position in the fourth, sixth and seventh, but were unable to drive a run home and suffered the 2-0 loss.  Smith finished the game with three singles for the Rams, while sophomore Tiffany Agosotini (Rehoboth, Mass.), Fortin and Shelby Phillips (Taunton, Mass.) each picked up hits in the game.

Senior pitcher Yaya Faria (Acton, Mass.) was tagged with the loss in the game as she went the distance and allowed two runs on six hits with seven strikeouts and a walk.  Faria became the FSU all-time leader in strikeouts with her third strikeout in the game which came in the third inning.  Faria surpassed the old mark of 247 and now has 252 career strikeouts.

The Rams finish off their spring trip at the NTC games tomorrow morning when they face Buffalo State and St. Catherine University.