Fitchburg State Blanked By Westfield State

Falcons shutdown 3-0 in game one; fall 5-0 in game two

WESTFIELD, Mass. (April 2, 2010) - The Fitchburg State baseball team suffered  a pair of MASCAC setbacks today as the Falcons battled Westfield State in a Friday afternoon doubleheader. The Falcons were blanked 3-0 in game one and fell 5-0 in the game two.

Westfield State 3, Fitchburg State 0

CODY BAMFORTH

In game one, Westfield State received a solid pitching performance from sophomore Aaron Messier (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford). Messier tossed six strong innings for the Owls, yielding only five hits with three strikeouts. The second-year hurler improved to 4-0 on the season, lowering his ERA to a minimal 1.17 this season. Senior Phil Towne (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) pitched the last inning, recoding his fourth save of the season.

Jeff Fields (Pittsfield, Mass./Pittsfield) led the Westfield State game one attack hitting 2-for-2 with a double and two runs scored while Ben Wagner (Cumberland, R.I./Mount St. Charles) finished 2-for-4 with two RBI. Freshman Cody Bamforth (Vernon, Conn./Rockville) led all Falcon hitters in the opener, going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles, while junior John Phelan (Walpole, Mass./Walpole), sophomore Andrew Foster (E. Bridgewater, Mass./E. Bridgewater) and classmate Will Comerford (Ayer, Mass./Ayer) added one hit apiece.

Westfield State took a 1-0 first-inning lead on a Kevin Lyons sacrifice fly and later posted its 3-0 advantage as Wagner blooped a two-run single down the right field line to lift the Owls. Sophomore Michal Mercier (Townsend, Mass./Saint Bernards) gave Fitchburg State a strong effort off the bump, tossing 6.0 innings in the loss (1-2). Mercier scattered eight hits over his outing, allowing three earned runs while striking out three.

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Westfield State 5, Fitchburg State 0

ALEX TEAL

In game two, Westfield State continued to keep the Fitchburg State bats at bay as the Owls collected its second conference victory of the season with a 5-0 victory.

Lyons led the Owls in the nightcap, hitting 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI, while six other Westfield State batters registered hits. Bamforth continued his hot hitting for Fitchburg State with a 1-for-3 game, while Mercier, Dave Alexander (Torrington, Conn./Torrington) and Brian Ware (Beverly, Mass./Beverly) also tallied base-knocks.

The Owls took a 1-0 first-inning lead when three hit batters loaded the sacks and Jeff Ackerman delivered an RBI single.  In the second inning, Westfield State increased its lead as Lyons laced a single through the right side to drive in two and Ben Campbell followed with an RBI single to center field.  Lyons completed his four RBI day with a run-scoring double in the sixth.

Sophomore Perry Russo (East Hartford, Conn./East Hartford) suffered the loss for the Falcons (1-1), yielding four earned runs on five hits over two innings of work. Freshman Alex Teal (Malden, Mass./Malden) came on in relief for Fitchburg State, closing the last five innings of the contest with only one run scored and four strikeouts.

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Fitchburg State (5-7, 0-2 MASCAC) returns to action on Monday as it travels to Anna Maria College at 3:30 p.m. Westfield State (13-3, 0-2 MASCAC) will host Western Connecticut on Monday at 3:30 p.m.