Massachusetts Maritime and Salem State Advance to the MASCAC Baseball Championship
The Massachusetts Maritime Buccaneers and Salem State Vikings advance to the MASCAC Baseball Championship after successfully making it out of the semifinal round on Saturday.
Game 1- Westfield State 7, Fitchburg 2 Box Score
Game 2- Salem State 6, Mass. Maritime 0 Box Score
Game 3- Mass. Maritime 6, Westfield State 3 Box Score
The Massachusetts Maritime Buccaneers and Salem State Vikings advance to the MASCAC Baseball Championship after successfully making it out of the semifinal round on Saturday.
Game 1: SALEM, Mass. -- Westfield State defeated Fitchburg State 7-2 in a MASCAC tournament elimination game on Saturday morning at Central Campus Field.
With the win, fourth-seeded Westfield (20-19) stays alive as they try to battle back from the loser's bracket, and will play another elimination game at 4:30 pm Saturday afternoon, facing the loser of today's second game between top-seeded hosts Salem State, or second-seeded Massachusetts Maritime. Westfield vanquished the third-seeded Falcons (18-20) from the tournament with today's win.
Westfield got on the board in the top of the first, scoring a run when senior Dan McCormack punched a single to left field, and came around to score two batters later as sophomore DH Stephen Brown rapped a base hit to center field.
The Owls scrapped for five runs in the third inning. Senior C Evan Moorhouse and McCormack singled to open the inning. Senior LF Tyler Adams got in on the action with a walk, and Brown followed with a base hit that allowed Moorhouse and McCormack to rumble home. Nate Barnes drew a walk. Tyler Beach reached on an error, to score another run, and Christian Morales followed with an RBI groundout. Connor Sheridan singled Barnes in to add the fifth run before Beach was thrown out at the plate to end the uprising.
Westfield State junior starter Matt Nunes stomped through three hitless innings before Fitchburg finally struck for a single run in the fourth inning, when Juan Lozada was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a base hit by Brendan Cutler.
Nunes (3-1) worked six innings, allowing one run on four hits while fanning six to earn his third win of the season. Tyler Tongue worked two innings, and Nate Marshall finished the bout for the Owls with a scoreless ninth inning.
Brown finished 2-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Moorhouse, McCormack and Danny DiMatteo each bashed a pair of hits for Westfield.
Game 2: Matt Abrain (Northbridge, MA) threw a complete game shutout as the No. 1 seed Vikings of Salem State defeated the No. 2 seed Buccaneers of Massachusetts Maritime Academy 6-0 in the semifinals of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Postseason Baseball Tournament Saturday afternoon at the Central Campus Baseball Field. Salem State (22-17-1) advances to the championship round for the fourth straight season, which will be held at Salem State beginning at noon tomorrow. They will face No. 2 seed Mass Maritime, which defeated No.4 seed Westfield State 6-3 in an elimination game on Saturday afternoon.
With two outs and men on first and second, Buccaneers catcher Logan Sullo (Acushnet, MA) attempted to pick off Joe White (Bellingham, MA) at first base, but threw the ball past the first baseman and into the outfield. The throwing error allowed Richard Fecteau (Newbury, MA) to score and White to advance to third. Dan Connors (Danvers, MA) enhanced the Vikings' lead to 2-0 with an RBI-single to center that scored White.
In the third, Salem State added two more runs off three hits. Mike Davis (Peabody, MA) reached base with a bunt single to third that was followed by a Fecteau single to left.
White drove in Salem State's third run with an RBI-single that scored Davis. Jose Cedano (Lawrence, MA) brought in Fecteau with a sacrifice bunt to put the Vikings' on top 4-0. Daniel Avery (Milford, MA) struggled on the mound for Massachusetts Maritime as he also walked two batters in a row at the end of the inning.
Abrain was in total control on the bump for the Vikings. Through five innings Abrain kept the Buccaneers off the scoreboard as he only allowed three hits while striking out two. Salem State padded their lead in the fifth inning when White scored from third on a wild pitch to take a 5-0 advantage.
The Vikings added another run in the sixth to gain a comfortable 6-0 lead. Andrew Deloury (Peabody, MA) reached second on a throwing error by the Buccaneers third baseman. After reaching third on a Mac Daniel Singleton (Everett, MA) bunt single, Deloury was brought in by a Davis sacrifice fly. Massachusetts Maritime struggled at the plate against Abrain, who retired the Buccaneers in order in five of the nine innings. Abrain shutout the Buccaneers over the final two innings to secure the 6-0 victory and a trip to the championship round.
White led the way for the Vikings' offense as he went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Riley Fusaro (Nantucket, MA) went 2-for-3 as well for Massachusetts Maritime despite the shutout.
Game 3: Sophomore Cobie Gerbis's (Holmes Beach, Fla.) two-run single plated the go-ahead runs as second-seeded Massachusetts Maritime used a five-run eighth inning rally to post a 6-3 victory over fourth-seeded Westfield State in elimination round play of the 2016 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Championships played Saturday afternoon at Salem State's Central Campus Field.
Sophomore Logan Sullo's (Acushnet, Mass.) sixth home run of the season gave the Buccaneers (22-14) a 1-0 first inning lead against the Owls (20-20), who evened matters in the second on a single through the right side by freshman Christian Morales (Peabody, Mass.). Westfield State took a 2-1 lead in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from junior Stephen Brown (Harwich, Mass.) and extended that margin to 3-1 in the sixth on a Morales groundout, and that score held up until Massachusetts Maritime batted around in the decisive eighth frame. Sophomore Billy Keane (Braintree, Mass.) led off with a bunt single and advanced on sophomore Connor Kennedy's (West Barnstable, Mass.) single to right field, and after both runners were sacrificed over, Sullo blooped a double to left center to pull the Buccaneers back to within a run at 3-2. After an intentional walk to junior Jake Petruzzelli (Abington, Mass.), Gerbis ripped a 1-2 pitch up the middle to plate Kennedy and Sullo for a 4-3 lead. Freshman Paul Sances (Middleboro, Mass.) then dropped down a suicide squeeze to score Gerbis, and he reached on a throwing error that allowed Petruzzelli to plate the fifth run of the inning and account for the final margin, sending Massachusetts Maritime to Sunday's championship round.
Sullo accounted for three of the Buccaneers' seven hits in the elimination round triumph, as senior Kyle Kennedy (Woodbury, Conn.) picked up his second tournament victory in a 24-hour span by working around a hit and striking out two over the final two innings to improve to 4-1 on the season. Junior Nate Barnes(Westfield, Mass.) and freshman Tyler Beach (Quincy, Mass.) each collected three hits in the setback for Westfield State, which advanced in the tournament with a 7-2 victory over third-seeded Fitchburg State in Saturday's first elimination round contest. Senior Justin Thomson (Yarmouth Port, Mass.) suffered his third setback of the season for the Owls, as he allowed six hits and five runs while fanning five over the first 7 1/3 frames of action.
Salem State (22-17-1) received a three-hit shutout performance from senior Matt Abrain (Northbridge, Mass.) in semifinal round play, as the Vikings jumped out to a 2-0 first inning lead on a throwing error and an RBI single off the bat of sophomore Dan Connors (Danvers, Mass.) before extending that margin to 4-0 in the third on freshman Joe White's (Bellingham, Mass.) run-scoring single and a suicide squeeze from sophomore Jose Cedano (Lawrence, Mass.). The hosts iced their triumph with single tallies in the fifth on a wild pitch and in the sixth on senior Mike Davis's (Peabody, Mass.) sacrifice fly, and Abrain took care of the rest on the mound in scattering three hits and striking out three to improve to 3-2 on the season. Davis, White, Connors and senior Richard Fecteau (Newbury, Mass.) each had two hits as part of an 11-hit attack for Salem State, which is seeking its third straight MASCAC championship on Sunday.
Freshman Riley Fusaro (Nantucket, Mass.) collected two hits in the semifinal setback for Massachusetts Maritime, which also received a single off the bat of Petruzzelli. Junior Daniel Avery (Milford, Mass.) allowed three earned runs and recorded a pair of strikeouts over five innings of work on the mound for the Buccaneers, as he saw his personal five-game winning streak come to an end in falling to 5-2 on the spring.
Courtesy of Massachusetts Maritime, Salem State and Westfield State Sports Information