Fifth seed Mass. Maritime and sixth seed Fitchburg State are moving on to the MASCAC Baseball Tournament quarterfinals after winning their first round contests Thursday morning.

#5 Mass. Maritime 5, #4 Worcester State 1   Box Score

FRAMINGHAM, Mass -- Buccaneer baseball opened the MASCAC Playoffs with a first round single elimination game win over Worcester State by a final of 6-1. A pair of home runs from Brett Velzis and a first inning home run from John Tropea helped the Bucs offensively; Hunter Dean threw a one run complete game to seal the deal and propel Maritime into the quarterfinals of the tournament.

The Basics

Final: Buccaneer 5, Lancers 1

Records: Maritime (21-18)

               Worcester (17-22)

On the Mound

Maritime: Hunter Dean (W, 5-2): 9 IP | 5 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 2 BB | 5 K

Worcester: Cole Glassburn (L, 4-3): 8.1 IP | 10 H | 5 R | 4 ER | 0 BB | 5 K

At The Plate

Maritime

• Michael Logiudice, Brett Velzis, and AJ Pietrafesa each had two hits in the win.
• John Tropea, Aidan Henderson, Michael Estrada, and Chris Perito all had one hit.
• Velzis hit two home runs in the game, Tropea added a home run.
• Pietrafesa recorded two doubles in the game.
• Velzis drove in three runs, Tropea and Pietrafesa each drove in one.
• Velzis scored twice, Tropea, Zach Sylvia, and Conor Coulter scored once.

Worcester

• Five different players recorded hits for the Lancers in the loss.
• Tyler Smith drove in the only run.
• Nathan Thurber scored the run for Worcester.
• Smith recorded two stolen bases and Zack Roberts had one in the game.

How It Happened

Tropea opened the game up in the top of the first with a home run over the right field fence to give the Buccaneers a 1-0 lead. 

In the bottom of the third, Worcester tied the game at 1-1 on a Smith single to center that plated Thurber.

Velzis hit his first home run of the game in the top of the fourth driving in two runs to give the Bucs a 3-1 lead.

Dean and Glassburn cruised through the middle and late innings not allowing any runs. Then, in the top of the ninth, Velzis broke the game open with his second home run of the game over the right field fence to give the Bucs a 4-1 advantage. Later in the inning, Pietrafesa hit his second double of the game and drove in Coulter from second to make the score 5-1. 

Dean came out in the bottom of the ninth, sat down the first two hitters, allowed a single and got the next batter to ground out to Logiudice to earn the Buccaneers a 5-1 win in the first round of the MASCAC Playoffs.

What's Next

The Bucs move on to the quarterfinals of the MASCAC Tournament and take on host and #1 seed Framingham Thursday afternoon at 3pm in Framingham.

#6 Fitchburg State 14, #3 Westfield State 8   Box Score

Bridgewater, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University Baseball team rallied to defeat the Owls of Westfield State, 14-8 in opening round action of the 2023 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Post-Season Tournament from Alumni Park on the campus of Bridgewater State.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 14, Westfield State 8

Records: Fitchburg State (19-19, 9-12 MASCAC) I Westfield State (19-19, 13-8 MASCAC)

How It Happened

Fitchburg State opened the scoring in the top of the first as sophomore Matthew Smith (Flanders, N.J.) walked, advanced to second on a single off the bat of senior Vincent Eramo (Shirley, Mass.) and scored on an RBI single to right center from senior Zachary Malek (Schenectady, N.Y.) for the 1-0 edge.

Westfield State quickly knotted the score at 1-1 in the bottom half of the first when sophomore Justin Neidel (Attleboro, Mass.) laced a triple to right center and scored on an RBI single to left center by classmate Nick Marshall (Reading, Mass.).

The Falcons regained the lead in the top of the fourth with sophomore Jacob Hurrell (Haverhill, Mass.) blasted a solo shot over the left field fence for his sixth home run of the season to make the score 2-1.

The Owls responded in the bottom of the fourth, scoring four runs with freshman Alex Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.), junior Nolan Florence (Chicopee, Mass.) and Neidel registering RBI base hits for the 5-2 advantage.

The Green and Gold answered back in the top of the fifth as Eramo singled through the left side to bring home junior Devin Lorae (Canton, Ga.) before Malek followed with an RBI double down the left field line that plated Smith. Junior Matthew Kelly (E. Bridgewater, Mass.) would then rip a two-run single down the right field line, scoring Malek and Hurrell for the 8-5 lead.

Fitchburg State upped the lead to 11-5 in the top of the sixth when Fitchburg State loaded the bases on Smith hit by pitch, a single from Eramo and a Hurrell walk before sophomore Nolan Hills (Danvers, Mass.) was hit by a pitch to bring in Smith, while Kelly laced a two run single through the left side.

The Falcons pushed the advantage to 14-7 in the following frame as Eramo crushed a solo shot to left center and Hurrell connected on an RBI triple to left center. With the home run, Eramo became the Falcons all-time career leader with his 22nd career home run, surpassing the previous record of 21, held by form Falcon Gary Blanchette (88).

Westfield State cut the deficit to 14-8 in the bottom of the eighth on a solo home run to left center from graduate student Ethan Day (Meriden, Conn.), but Fitchburg State relief pitcher Lowell Pare (Leominster, Mass.) closed the door in the bottom ninth, resulting in the 14-8 final.

By The Numbers

• Eramo led the way for the Falcons, going 4-for-6 with a home run, three runs scored and two RBI
• Hurrell went 3-for-5 with a triple, home run, two runs scored and three RBI for the Green and Gold
• Pare earned the win for Fitchburg State, allowing three runs on eight hits with six K's in five innings of relief
• For the Owls, Neidel hit 4-for-6 with three triples, two runs scored and one RBI
• Junior Ryan Lapierre (Pittsfield, Mass.) took the loss for Westfield State, giving up eight runs on 12 hits with four strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work
• 97th meeting between the Falcons and the Owls on the diamond with Fitchburg State 23-74 all-time when taking on Westfield State
• With the home run, Vinny Eramo set the Fitchburg State program record for home runs in career with his 22nd career home run
• With the victory, LT Pare set the Falcons single season record for wins with his ninth victory on the season

Up Next

Falcons return to action later this afternoon as they take on the second seeded Bears of Bridgewater State in quarterfinal round action of the 2023 MASCAC Baseball Post-Season tournament with a 2:30 PM start.

Releases courtesy of Fitchburg State and Mass. Maritime Sports Information