Baseball Sweeps Fitchburg for Sixth Straight Win

DAVENPORT, FL - The Blazers swept Fitchburg State University in a doubleheader for their fifth and sixth straight victory in the RussMatt Invitational at Northeast Regional Park Friday morning.

BASICS
Game 1
Score: Elms College 16 | Fitchburg State University 5
Record: Blazers 6-3, 0-0 (GNAC) | Falcons 2-2, 0-0 (MASCAC)

Game 2
Score: Elms College 12 | Fitchburg State University 8
Record: Blazers 7-3, 0-0 (GNAC) | Falcons 2-3, 0-0 (MASCAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
Junior Henry Rondon (Ansonia, CT) took the mound for Elms in Game 1, allowed two hits and kept Fitchburg State scoreless in the top of the first inning. The Blazers were able to reach base early in the bottom half of the inning and then their bats came to life. Senior CJ Moriarty (Glastonbury, CT) would hit a single that advanced the runners, driving in senior Seamus Higgins (Rutland, MA) for the first run of the game, and load the bases for senior Josh Nohilly (Bristol, CT), who would get walked, and would allow graduate student Josh Pasini (Enfield, CT) to score. Senior Justin Miller (Prospect, CT) would join the fray by hitting a double to center field, driving in Pasini and Moriarity to bring the lead 4-0 Blazers. Elms' bats would drive an additional five runs to extend their lead to 9-0 by the end of the first inning. Both teams would have a scoreless second inning, but in the bottom of the third Pasini would double to right-center field, bringing senior AJ Cook (Mendon, MA) and first-year Griffen Levesque (Agawam, MA). The Falcons would score in the top of the fourth inning, but the Blazers would add an additional four runs in the bottom of the inning and in the bottom of the fifth inning, Nohily hit a home run to right-center field, giving the Blazers their final run of the game. Fitchburg State would respond with four more runs, but it was not to hold off the Blazers who came out of Game 1 victorious 16-5.

Game 2
The second game would begin in a similar light, but this time in the Falcons' favor when they scored off of a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning. The second inning would go scoreless for both teams, but the Elms' bats would wake up in the top of the third inning with the help up an RBI-double by Pasini, an RBI-single by Nohilly, and a sacrifice fly by junior Blake Bastos (Minelo, NY), and the leas would now be in favor of the Blazers, 3-2. A second home run by Fitchburg in the bottom half of the third inning would tie the ball game up at 3-3, but Elms would score an additional four more runs; including a two-run single by junior George Chaya Jr. (Methuen, MA) to take back the lead and bring the score to 8-3. But the Falcons would come back to tie the game, scoring an unanswered five runs in the fourth and sixth innings. Then in the top of the seventh inning, the Blazers would score four runs to secure the win and sweep over Fitchburg State with a final score of 12-8

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Rondon - 6.0 Innings Pitched, nine strikeouts, and two earned runs.

UP NEXT: The Blazers will be wrapping up their spring break in Lakeland, FL at Lake Bonny Park on Saturday March 8, with a doubleheader at 9:30 A.M. and 12 P.M. against St. Norbert College.

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