Fitchburg State Swept By Wentworth

Falcons fall 8-1 in open; Edged 4-3 in the nightcap

PLYMOUTH, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University baseball team was in action this afternoon, dropping a pair of games to the Leopards of Wentworth Institute of Technology by the scores of 8-1 and 4-3 at Plymouth North High School.

Wentworth 8, Fitchburg State 1 (Game 1)

Wentworth opened the scoring in the top of the second inning, loading the bases on a dropped third strike, a walk and a hit batter before sophomore Matt Smith drove in classmate Ross Golebiewski with a fielder's choice and senior Christian Ferri singled home junior Tim Elrick for the 2-0 advantage .

Fitchburg State responded with a run in the bottom half of the second as senior Sam Brown singled to right field, moved to second and third on throwing miscue and scored following a sacrifice fly by freshman Brendan O'Flaherty (2-1).

The Leopards upped its lead in the top of the fourth when M. Smith walked, moved to second and third on a steal and wild pitch before scoring on a throwing miscue, while junior Tyler Weninger knocked in senior Jordan Burst and Ferri with a two-out triple to left center to make the score 5-1.

Wentworth tacked on an insurance run in the top of the sixth as senior Jimmy Temte singled through the left side, advanced to third on a base knock from freshman Owen Swanson and scored a perfectly executed double steal, resulting in the 8-1 final.

Fitchburg State was paced by junior Sean Maki, who went 1-for-2 with double, while senior Nathan Littman and Brown added one each for the Green and Gold. For Wentworth, Weninger hit 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBI, while M. Smith chipped in with one hit, a run scored and two runs batted in.

On the hill, junior Andrew Mooney took the loss for Fitchburg State, allowing five unearned runs on three hits and eight strikeouts in four innings of work, while sophomore Ryan Obin picked up the win for the Leopards, giving up one unearned run on three hits with 3 K's in 4.2 innings pitched.

Wentworth 4, Fitchburg State 3 (Game 2)

Maki continued his solid hitting for the Falcons in game two, going 1-for-3 with a home run, one run scored and two RBI, while junior Andrew Currie finished 1-for-3 with a double and one RBI. For Wentworth, sophomore Steve Hall hit 1-for-3 with three runs batted in, while sophomore Jake Smith chipped in with one hit and an RBI for the Leopards. 

On the mound, senior Tyler Smith yielded four runs (3 earned) on four hits with 9 K's in six innings of work for the Falcons in the setback, while senior Aaron Denis collected the win for the Leopards, allowing three runs (2 earned) on seven hits with five strikeouts in the complete game effort.

The Falcons grabbed the lead in the bottom half of the first innings when Littman singled to right, stole second, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt before Maki blasted his third home run on the season into the left centerfield gap for the 2-0 margin.

Wentworth knotted the score (2-2) in the top of the fifth as Swanson walked, advanced to third on fielding miscue and scored on a ground out by Hall, while J. Smith brought home Elrick with a triple to left center. 

The Leopards took the lead in the following inning when Weninger doubled to left center, while Swanson and Elrick were hit by pitches to load the bases before Hall plated Weninger and Swanson with a two-run single to right field for the 4-2 advantage.

Fitchburg State answered back with a run in the bottom of the sixth as O'Flaherty walked, advanced to second following a hit batter and came around to score on a double down the left field line by Currie to cut the deficit to 4-3.

That's as close as the Falcons would get however as Denis closed the door in the seventh inning to secure his second win on the season.

Fitchburg State (4-9, 0-0 MASCAC) returns to action on Thursday as it travels to WPI to take on the Engineers for a contest starting at 3:00 p.m. Wentworth (9-3, 0-0 CCC) will host Johnson & Wales University on Monday at 3:30 p.m.