Fitchburg State Swings Past Newbury

FITCHBURG, Mass. (March 31, 2009) - The Fitchburg State baseball team tallied runs in eight out of nine innings as the Falcons defeated Newbury College, 14-7 in non-conference action this afternoon.

Sophomore Eric DiMauro (Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro) paved the way for Fitchburg State's 18 hit attack, hitting a team-best 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI. Sophomore Chris Smart (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) was also solid for the Falcons, going 3-for-5 with one run scored and two RBI, while sophomore Nick Rocheleau (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) finished 3-for-6 with a double, three runs scored and two RBI.

Freshman Alex Chetelat (Farmington, Conn./Farmington) led the Newbury offense with a 2-for-5 performance, including a homerun (2), one run scored and two RBI, while sophomore Nick Dunn (Portland, Maine/Deering) added a triple, one run scored and a game-high three RBI. Senior Evan Hudson (Sunapee, N.H./Sunapee) added two hits for the Nighthawks.

Fitchburg State opened the contest with a commanding 10-0 lead through seven innings of play, but Newbury rallied back in the bottom of the seventh, totaling seven runs on seven hits to cut the Falcon lead (10-7). With one down in the seventh, the Nighthawks connected for three consecutive singles before Dunn belted an RBI triple to right-field to plate three. After the Nighthawks manufactured another pair of runs, Chetelat capped the Newbury scoring surge with a two-run blast to centerfield.

The Falcons continued to battle, posting six runs on six over the final two frames to collect their ninth victory of the season. Rocheleau led Fitchburg State's eighth-inning, three-run rally with an RBI double to center-field, while DiMauro registered an RBI base-knock in the ninth to shut the door.

Freshman Perry Russo (East Hartford, Conn./East Hartford) collected the victory for the Falcons (2-0), tossing 6.2 innings in his home-field debut. Russo became the Falcons second multi-game winner of the season, yielding only three earned runs, while striking out six. Hudson suffered the loss for the Nighthawks (0-2), allowing five runs on six hits in four innings of work.

Fitchburg State (9-6, 0-2 MASCAC) will be back in action on Thursday as it travels to Brandeis University at 4 p.m. Newbury (1-12, 0-2 NECC) will host Emerson College tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.

- Game story submitted by Keith Brouillard, SID - Southern Vermont College