Falcons Outlast Mass. Maritime, 5-1
Freshman Drew Mazzeo’s two-run single plated the go-ahead runs and sparked a five-run seventh inning rally that lifted Fitchburg State to a 5-1 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball victory over Massachusetts Maritime Saturday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field.
BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. - Freshman Drew Mazzeo's two-run single plated the go-ahead runs and sparked a five-run seventh inning rally that lifted Fitchburg State to a 5-1 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball victory over Massachusetts Maritime Saturday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field.
The visiting Falcons (9-7, 2-2 MASCAC) trailed by a run heading into their final at-bat, but an error and a walk to junior Roel Fernandez put the lead runs on base, and after a sacrifice by freshman Donald Geloso advanced the runners, Mazzeo lined an 0-2 pitch into right field for the decisive single. Fitchburg State added three more runs in the frame on RBI singles off the bats of junior Brendan Cutler and senior Clayton Beaulieu that sandwiched a throwing error, and the Falcons worked around three hits in the bottom of the inning to earn their triumph.
Freshman Logan Sullo gave the host Buccaneers (7-7, 2-2 MASCAC) a 1-0 advantage in their first at-bat, as his RBI triple to right plated senior Bobby Rosano, who led off the game with an infield single. That run looked like it would hold up for Massachusetts Maritime junior Kevin Kwedor, who had worked around a pair of jams in the opening two innings and again in the fifth before Fitchburg State's last inning rally.
Mazzeo and Brendan Cutler each had two of the Falcons' six hits on the afternoon, as sophomore Kyle Cutler scattered four hits and struck out six over the first six frames while throwing 52 of his 80 pitches for strikes to improve to 4-0 on the season. Freshman Connor Kennedy rapped out two of Massachusetts Maritime's seven hits in the setback, as Kwedor allowed four hits and three unearned runs while striking out a career-high 10 in falling to 3-2 overall.
Massachusetts Maritime hosts Salem State in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field beginning at 1:00 p.m., while Fitchburg State hosts MCLA in a MASCAC twinbill on Sunday afternoon in Fitchburg, Mass. that begins at Noon.