Fitchburg State Squeaks Past Newbury, 8-7

LEOMINSTER, Mass. (March 25, 2010) – Freshman Randy Ortiz, Jr.’s (Danielson, Conn./Killingly) sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Fitchburg State to an 8-7 victory over Newbury College in non-conference action this afternoon.

Tied 7-7 in the bottom of the ninth frame, Fitchburg State got its rally started as junior John Phelan (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) walked and transfer David Alexander (Torrington, Conn./Torrington) singled through the left side. Following an intentional walk to sophomore Eric O’Reilly (Gardner, Mass./Gardner), Ortiz stepped in and blasted a sacrifice fly to centerfield to plate the game-winning run.

It was a back and forth affair for much of the contest with neither team gaining more than a two run lead. Fitchburg State held the largest lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, breaking a 2-2 tie on senior Matt Morrison’s (Beverly, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) first homerun of the season. Newbury quickly answered in the top of the fifth frame with a solo homerun by sophomore Alex Chetelat (Farmington, Conn./Farmington) to make it a tight, one-run battle.

Both teams answered each other over the final three innings of play, scoring two runs in the seventh and single runs in the eighth and ninth. Newbury notched its first lead (5-4) since the second inning as Chetelat blasted his second homerun of the game, but the Falcons answered in the bottom of the frame with a triple by Nick Rocheleau (Leominster, Mass./Leominster), a RBI double by Phelan and a RBI double by O’Reilly.  

Fitchburg State withstood a six homerun attack by the Nighthawks, including a pair of homeruns from Chetelat, who finished the contest 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI. Classmate Pat Curry (Hampstead, N.H./Pinkerton) was also solid with a 2-for-4 day, a homerun and one RBI, while Michael Dean (Wethersfield, Conn./Wethersfield) added a pair of hits, including a longball.  

Morrison and Phelan paced the Falcons 12-hit attack, combining for a 5-for-8 day with five runs scored and five RBI. Morrison led the Fitchburg State power surge with a pair of homeruns, two runs scored and three RBI, while Phelan added a team-best three hits, two runs and two RBI. Rocheleau was also strong with a trio of hits including a double, triple and two runs scored.

Fitchburg State received a solid starter from senior Nick Ryan (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) who threw the first six innings for the Falcons, yielding three earned runs on seven hits and striking out six. Classmate Marshall Miller (Greenfield, Mass./Greenfield) earned the victory in relief (1-1), scattering three hits and two runs over two innings on the hill. Sophomore Curran Shane (Bedford, N.H./Manchester West) suffered the loss for Newbury (0-1), yielding four runs and six hits over 2.2 innings of work.

Fitchburg State (5-5, 0-0 MASCAC) will be in action again this weekend as it travels to Becker College at 1 p.m. Newbury (1-9, 0-0 NECC) will visit Mass-Maritime Academy on Saturday at 12 p.m.