Falcons Secure Trip To MASCAC Baseball Championship Game With 4-3 Triumph Over Rams

Westfield, Mass. – The second seeded Falcons of Fitchburg State defeated the third seeded Rams of Framingham State University, 4-3 this afternoon in semifinal round action of the 2019 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Baseball Post-Season Tournament at the Bud and Jim Hagan Field on the campus of Westfield State University.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 4, Framingham State 3

Records: Fitchburg State (25-15, 13-8 MASCAC) I Framingham State (22-19, 12-9 MASCAC)

How It Happened

Fitchburg State opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth as sophomore Nicholas Cordeau (Melrose, Mass.) singled to third, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on an RBI single from junior Joshua Macomber (Berkley, Mass.) for the 1-0 edge.

The Falcons upped their lead (3-0) in the following frame junior Brandon Lefebvre (Leominster, Mass.) brought in newcomer Vincent Eramo (Shirley, Mass.) with a sacrifice fly to left before Cordeau laced a run scoring double to right center that plated junior Matthew Pingitore (Rutland, Mass.).

Framingham State cut into the deficit in the top of the seventh with junior Bobby Higgins (Barnstable, Mass.) tripling to right field to bring in senior Joe Ambrosino (Bradenton, Fla.), while senior Matt Fogarty (Millis, Mass.) added an RBI double to right to make the score 3-2.

The Green and Gold tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth as Cordeau drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second and third on a steal and sacrifice bunt and came around to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of senior Noah Milliard (Leominster, Mass.) for the 4-2 margin.

The Rams answered in the top of the ninth when Fogarty singled down the right field line to scored Ambrosino, but Fitchburg State closer Shaun Gamelin (West Kingstown, R.I.) picked up his conference leading seventh save on the season with a strikeout to end the game.

By The Numbers

• 85th meeting between the two teams with the Falcons 39-46 vs the Rams
• Cordeau led the way for the Falcons, going 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI
• Pingitore added two hits, including a double and one run scored for the Green and Gold
• Fogarty finished 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI for the Rams
• Tommy Parsons (Peabody, Mass.) earned the win for Fitchburg State, allowing two unearned runs on six hits with ten K's in seven innings of work
• Kyle Hodgson (Berkley, Mass.) took the loss for Framingham State, giving up three runs on six hits with six strikeouts in six innings of work
• Falcons set a new program record for wins in a season with 25, surpassing the previous mark of 24 set in 2004

Up Next

Falcons will take on the Owls of Westfield State University this afternoon in the MASCAC Championship Game, starting at 2:00 PM. Rams concluded their 2019 season with an overall record of 22-19 and a 12-9 clip in conference play.