Fitchburg State Splits With Curry

Falcons shutdown Colonels, 4-0 in game one; fall 13-2 in game two

MELBOURNE, Fla. (March 17, 2010) – The Fitchburg State baseball team battled Curry College this afternoon in a daytime doubleheader. The Falcons shutdown the Colonels, 4-0 in game one before falling 13-2 in the game two.

Fitchburg State 4, Curry 0

PERRY RUSSO

Sophomore pitcher Perry Russo (East Hartford, Conn./East Hartford) cruised to his first victory of the season this afternoon (1-0), posting a complete-game shutout on the hill. Russo dominated the Curry lineup, 1-9, yielding only three hits, while striking out seven. Sophomore Michal Mercier (Townsend, Mass./Saint Bernards) paced the Falcons bats with a 1-for-3 performance, including his first homerun of the season, while  junior Nick Rocheleau (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) added a triple, one run scored and one RBI.

Curry junior Chris Costa (Lynnfield, Mass./St. John’s Prep) suffered the loss for the Colonels (0-1), tossing a complete game, five-hitter. Costa allowed four runs in the contest (one earned), while striking out four.

Russo set the tone for the Falcons defensively right from the start, retiring the Colonel’s first 12 batters in order and facing the game’s minimum through five innings of play. On the offensive end, Mercier sparked the Falcons from the get-go, blasting the game’s first pitch over the left field wall for a 1-0 Fitchburg State lead. The Falcons tacked on another run in the bottom half of the first on Ricky Graham’s (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) RBI single to right-center.

After five scoreless innings of play, Fitchburg State doubled its lead in the bottom of the sixth frame as Rocheleau and junior catcher Will Comerford (Ayer, Mass./Ayer) belted extra base-hits. Rocheleau started the Falcons bats with a two-out, triple to right center, and later scored on a Colonel error, while Comerford sent a shot to the left center gap for a RBI double. 

In the seventh, Russo closed the door for the Falcons, securing Fitchburg State’s third victory of the season with three quick outs. The sophomore hurler downed the first two Colonel batters, before retiring David Stevens (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Coral Glades) on a fielder’s choice.

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Curry 13, Fitchburg State 2

In the nightcap, Fitchburg State suffered its fifth loss of the season, falling to Curry 13-2 in the nightcap. The Colonels used a 12-1 run over the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to open up a 1-0 contest and collect their second victory of the year.

JOHN PHELAN

In the bottom of the fourth, Curry touched for four runs, using an RBI double by Tim Sweeney (Walpole, Mass./Walpole). Sophomore Matt Drew (Waltham, Mass./Saint Mark’s School) and junior Ben Blaisdell (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) opened the inning with back-to-back base-hits before Sweeney stepped in and laced a two-run triple to right-center.

The Colonels struck again in the fifth, posting five runs on five hits and one left on base. Curry strung together a solid two out rally as Rick Vail (Lynnfield, Mass./Lynnfield) connected for a triple down the right field line, plating and three and Brad Hawn (Chino Hills, Calif./Mater Hei) followed with a run scoring single.

Fitchburg State added a run in the top of the sixth frame as junior John Phelan (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) doubled with two out and later scored on a Graham infield single, but Curry’s relieving core shut the door, holding the Falcons to only one unearned run in the seventh inning.

Fitchburg State starter Alex Teal (Malden, Mass./Malden) suffered the loss (0-1), being chased from the game after three innings of work. Teal limited the Colonels to only two hits but was the bearer of four runs (one earned) while walking two and striking out a pair. Freshman John Chase (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) came on in relief for the Falcons, yielding six earned runs in 1.1 innings of work, while Curry starter Ben Howrigan (Fairfield, Vt./Bellows Free Academy) earned the victory (1-0) with five innings of two-hit, shutout baseball.

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Fitchburg State (3-5, 0-0 MASCAC) returns to action tomorrow as it closes out its 2010 Southern trip with a single contest vs. Amherst College starting at 9 a.m.