WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Westfield State baseball team dropped a pair of games to Framingham State in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader on Friday afternoon from Bud and Jim Hagan Field in Westfield, Mass. The Rams got off to hot scoring starts in each of the two contests, defeating the Owls 10-2 in game one before wrapping up the sweep with a 5-3 win in game two.
The Owls slide to 16-18 overall and 10-8 in the MASCAC while the Rams take all three regular season games from Westfield to improve to 23-12 on the season and 13-5 in conference play.
Today was also senior day as the Owls honored their seven seniors: Kyle Darby, Ryan Robidoux, Billy Casey, Sean Casey, Ethan Day, Chris Schoen, and Luke Mathewson in between games.
GAME 1:
Framingham put up a three spot on the scoreboard in the third inning as a combination of timely hitting for the Rams and defensive miscues for the Owls allowed for the Rams to open up an early lead. Steven Burbank (Canton, Mass.) kicked off the scoring with a single to the pitcher with an errant throw to first leading to the first two runs crossing the plate.
Ryan Boyle (Arlington, Mass.) extended the Rams lead to three runs on a sacrifice fly to score Burbank.
Westfield chipped away at the deficit by scrapping across runs in the fourth and sixth innings. John Nickerson (Chelmsford, Mass.) got the Owls on the board with an RBI ground out, then an error by the Rams allowed for Trey Faulkner (Springfield, Mass.) to score, making it a 3-2 game after six innings.
In the seventh inning, the Rams sent 11 batters to the plate and blitzed the Owls with a seven-run frame. Matthew Shaver (Milford, Mass.) gave the Rams breathing room with a two-run single to left to drive the lead to three runs. With two outs in the frame, five straight Rams hitters reached base with Caleb Hendrix (Gorham, Maine) and Robert Johnston (Watertown, Conn.) delivering the knockout blow with consecutive two-RBI hits to open up the eventual 10-2 final score.
Ryan Donahue (Medfield, Mass.) toed the rubber for the Owls in game one, taking the loss after three unearned runs on five hits with five strikeouts across 5.1 innings pitched. Jimmy Gilleran (Mansfield, Mass.) was sharp on the mound for the Rams, registering his fifth win of the season after completing six innings of work, scattering seven hits and giving up two runs with five punchouts.
GAME 2
Framingham jumped out to another three-run lead early in game two after two straight hits from Hendrix and Johnston put the Rams on top 2-0. Lucas Basile (Upton, Mass.) knocked a two-out hit into left center to push the lead to three runs after the first inning.
First-year Adam Martin (Brockton, Mass.) quieted the Owls bats through the first six innings, allowing the Rams to extend their lead in the seventh inning after an RBI single from Shaver with another run crossing the plate after he was tagged out in a rundown between first and second base.
In the bottom of the seventh, Ethan Day (Meriden, Conn.) doubled over the centerfielder's head to kickstart a rally for Westfield. Devin Slattery (Ware, Mass.) followed with a single through the right side of the infield to plate the Owls first run of the game. Faulkner then drew a walk leading to a pitching change for the Rams.
Justin Neidel (Attleboro, Mass.) continued to move the line with a single into right field, loading the bases and brining the tying run to the plate with nobody out. Despite the attempted comeback, Rams closer Anthony Panza (Watertown, Mass.) was able to mitigate the damage. RBI groundouts from Nickerson and Alex Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) made it a 5-3 game, but a spectacular diving catch from Basile in right field off the bat of Sean Clark (Dudley, Mass.) thwarted the comeback effort.
Panza continued to deal on the mound after securing his sixth save of the season after his scoreless appearance, surrendering just a single run in 28.1 innings of work this year. Martin snagged his third win of the campaign after tossing six innings, allowing three runs on five hits.
Owls starter Luke Mathewson (Eastford, Conn.) settled into his start by retiring 11 straight hitters from the second to fifth innings, but gave up five runs in the other two frames to finish with a line of 6.1 innings, seven hits, and four strikeouts.
Westfield State has four games remaining in the regular season with the first coming on Tuesday, May 2 as the Owls travel to Wheaton College at 4:00 P.M. Framingham State will travel to Nichols on Tuesday with first pitch at 3:30 P.M.