FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – Westfield State senior Nick Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) lashed four doubles and tallied three RBI across both games as the Owls completed a twin-bill sweep over Framingham State on a Saturday afternoon from Bowditch Field in Framingham, Mass. Westfield used a six-run fifth inning to rally past Rams in game one, 7-2, and rode an eight-run third in game two to complete the doubleheader sweep, 11-4.
The Owls won all three games against the Rams in the regular season series after defeating Framingham 19-7 in the opener on Friday. Westfield State improves to 22-12 on the season and 13-5 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference. Framingham drops to 9-24 overall and 4-14 in conference play. With the sweep, the Owls pull into a tie of second place with Mass. Maritime in the conference standings.
The Owls had to overcome a 2-0 deficit in game one as Ryan Boyle (Arlington, Mass.) put the Rams on the board with an RBI single in the first inning. A wild pitch led to a second run in the third, as Westfield was blanked heading into the fifth inning where the offense hit its stride.
After back-to-back singles by Trey Faulkner (Springfield, Mass.) and Zack Graveline (Prospect, Conn.), Martin laced a double into the left-centerfield gap to put the Owls on the board. Samuel Palmer (Medfield, Mass.) was next up and he hit a go-ahead two-RBI single to centerfield to give the Owls a 3-2 lead. Three batters later, graduate student Casey Boudreau (Shrewsbury, Mass.) brought in Palmer on a run-scoring single to double the lead to 4-2. A two out error by the Rams scored the final two runs of the inning.
Senior Damien Maniscalco (Branford, Conn.) collected the final run of the game on a single to left center in the seventh inning to leave the score at 7-2.
Owls starter Ryan Donahue (Medfield, Mass.) (W, 4-1) picked up the victory in game one, striking out a season-high ten batters in five innings while allowing just two hits and two runs (one earned). Joseph Fischer (Avon, Mass.) closed out the game with two scoreless innings to give the Owls a game one victory.
In game two, Westfield jumped in front on a RBI single by Boudreau in the first inning to score Palmer. Steven Burbank (Canton, Mass.) tied the game in the third inning with a run-scoring single of his own, plating Cam Gilroy (Salisbury, Mass.).
Similar to game one, the Owls put together a put-away inning, this time in the third frame beginning with RBI singles by Max Silverman (Westford, Mass.) and Boudreau. Nolan Florence (Chicopee, Mass.) walked in a run, with Maniscalco driving in the fourth run of the inning on a single to left to extend the lead to 5-1. Martin delivered another double, this time scoring two runs to make it 7-1. Palmer tacked on a sacrifice fly to conclude the frame.
Martin and Silverman collected RBI knocks in the fifth inning with Martin driving home his third RBI of game two.
Ryan Robidoux (Suffield, Conn.) (W, 3-3) got the nod in game two, covering five innings while allowing two runs (one earned) one four hits. He struck out three and did not walk a batter. The Owls chased Anthony Panza (Watertown, Mass.) from the game in the third inning as he surrendered nine runs on six hits over 2.1 innings.
Martin had three hits on the game including two doubles. He had three RBI and scored twice. Palmer, Silverman and Boudreau all had multi-hit games in game two.
Westfield State enters the final week of the regular season, as the Owls will return home to face Wheaton College in a non-conference game at Bud and Jim Hagan Field in Westfield, Mass. before playing their final conference series against Bridgewater State starting on Friday.