After winning their first round games on Thursday afternoon, Framingham State and Worcester State advanced to the MASCAC Baseball quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon.

#6 Framingham State 8     #3 Fitchburg State 5 Box Score

Fitchburg, Mass. – Sophomore Jordon Pallazola (Rockport, Mass.) delivered the game-winning 3-run home run in the eighth inning to propel the visiting sixth seeded Rams of Framingham State to an 8-5 victory over third seed Fitchburg State University in first round action of the 2017 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Baseball Championship on Thursday afternoon at Riccards Field.

The Rams (18-22) advance to the double-elimination portion of the tournament this weekend, when they travel to Salem State University on Saturday for at 1 p.m. The Falcons finish the 2017 campaign with a 14-20-1 record.

The Rams took a quick 2-0 in the top of the first inning when they capitalized on a pair on Falcon miscues as Andrew Curtis (Dracut, Mass.) scored on a wild pitch before Manny Powers (Malden, Mass.) crossed the plate on a throwing error following an attempted steal.

Fitchburg State cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the frame. With one out junior Andrew Mooney doubled to right center field then came around to score on an RBI single from classmate Sean Maki to make it a 2-1 score after one inning of play.

The Green and Gold knotted the score (2-2) in the home half of the fourth inning. Back-to-back walks to freshman Joshua Macomber and senior Nathan Littman with two-outs set the table for Mooney who delivered a single through the left side of the infield to plate Macomber.

Framingham State regained a two-run lead (4-2) in the in the fifth inning. Curtis laced a single up the middle past the Falcon's drawn in infield to score classmates Aaron Williams (Brockton, Mass.) and Joe Ambrosino (Bradeton, Fla.).

In the home half of the frame the Falcons battled back again as Mike St. John supplied an RBI sac fly and Littman poked an RBI single to left field to power the Green and Gold to a 4-4 tie.

Defensively, Rams left fielder Williams robbed Brandon Lefebvre of a home run with a running catch over the fence to keep the score even to begin the bottom of the seventh inning. However, junior Drew Mazzeo followed with a double down the right field line, advanced to third on a Macomber single and scored on an RBI sacrifice fly from Littman to give the Falcons their first lead of the game 5-4.

Again the Rams answered in the eighth when Pallazola belted a 3-run home over the 385' sign in straight away centerfield to tilt the scoreboard to a 7-5 advantage. In the ninth the Rams added an insurance run for the 8-5 final.

Fitchburg State was led offensively by Mooney, who went 2-for-4 with a double, one run scored and an RBI, while Littman finished 1-for-3 with two runs batted in.

For Framingham State, Curtis hit 2-for-4, including two runs scored and two RBI, while Pallazola added a 1-for-3 effort with a homerun, one run scored and three RBI.

On the mound, Smith took the loss for the Falcons, allowing seven run (five earned) on five hits with six strikeouts in 7.2 innings of work, while sophomore Kevin Connelly (Bolton, Mass.) collected the win for the Rams, giving up five runs on 12 hits and eight K's in seven innings pitched.

#4 Worcester State 13    #5 MCLA 2 Box Score

WORCESTER, Mass. — The No. 4 seed Worcester State University scored 13 runs on 15 hits to defeat the No. 5 seed Trailblazers by a score of 13-2 in the first round of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) baseball tournament Thursday (May 4) afternoon.

With the win, the Lancers improve to 16-20 on the season and advance to the MASCAC Tournament quarterfinals. Worcester State is set to play No. 1 Westfield State in Westfield on Saturday (May 6) at 1 p.m. With the loss, MCLA is eliminated from the tournament and concludes its 2017 campaign at 12-18.

Worcester State's offense was led by Jake Ryan (Northbridge, Mass.) who went 4-for-5 with a double, walk and a game-high three RBI. Seth Leslie (Phillipston, Mass.) and Kenan Kolanda (Sterling, Mass.) picked up three hits and two RBI apiece in the win.

MCLA plated two runs during their first at bat, as lead-off hitter, Christian Seariac (Averill Park, N.Y.), singled down the left field line to get the Trailblazers started. Next up, Jonathon Parker (Albany, N.Y.) singled to third base, advancing Seariac to second. Both runners were then bunted over by Brett LaBonte (Wareham, Mass.), as bases were loaded with no outs, the Lancers turned a 6-4-3 double play; however, the Trailblazers managed to plate one run. MCLA scored another on a Worcester State error, giving them two runs to end the inning.

The Lancers capitalized on two MCLA errors during their first at bat, scoring three unearned runs on just one hit. Worcester State's Ryan walked and then Adam Barry (Auburn, Mass.) reached on an error. Next, Mike Ferrara (Easton, Mass.) reached on an error and Ryan was able to score. A sacrifice fly from Kevin Larkin (Bristol, Conn.) scored Barry. Leslie had the only hit of the inning, scoring Ferrara and giving the Lancers a 3-2 edge over MCLA at the end of the first inning.

Worcester State held MCLA in the top of the second, turning over a quick 1-2-3 inning. The Lancers widened the gap, scoring another three runs in the bottom of the second. Worcester State's Ryan plated two runs on a double to right center, while Barry hit a sacrifice fly to score Ryan for the 6-2 advantage.

The Lancers turned another quick 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third and scored one on an RBI single from Kolanda giving them a 7-2 edge over the Trailblazers entering the top of the fourth.

Worcester State pulled even further ahead of MCLA in the bottom of the sixth inning as they tallied four runs on five hits and two Trailblazer errors. Despite turning a 6-4-3 double play, MCLA was unable to hold the Lancers, who rallied and scored three of their four runs of the inning with two outs. Chipping in for the Lancers were Ryan, Ferrara, and Larking, who each had singles while Jimmy Sheehan (Oxford, Mass.) ripped a double to right center.

Releases courtesy of Fitchburg State and Worcester State Sports Information