Auburndale, Fla. - The Farmingdale State baseball team has played six games at the RussMatt Invitational down in Florida and has earned four wins. FSC picked up victories against Keuka College, Clarkson University and Framingham State University.
The Rams (6-3) still have a pair of nine-inning games remaining on their trip as they play University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (3/19 - 11:30 a.m.) and Thomas (Maine) (3/20 - 10:00 a.m.).
Friday, March 15th
The Rams fell to #18 University of Massachusetts-Boston, 10-1.
After FSC freshman designated hitter Patrick Leach (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) led off the game with a solo homerun to put Farmingdale State ahead 1-0, the Beacons quickly responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 3-1 advantage. UMass.-Boston added runs in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth innings as they went on for the 10-1 victory.
Rams' junior right fielder Vincent Rice (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) was 2-for-3 with a pair of singles.
Beacons' third baseman Eddie Riley (Quincy, Mass.), left fielder Anthony Cecere (Wakefield, Mass.), and designated hitter Ryan McCormick (Cumberland, R.I.) each had two hits and two runs scored in the win.
Saturday, March 16th
In a 7-inning doubleheader versus Keuka, FSC tallied a sweep as they registered an 11-4 win in game one and followed with a 6-4 victory in the second game.
With the game scoreless in the third inning of game one, Farmingdale State junior center fielder Nick Attardi (Smithtown, N.Y.) and Leach hit back-to-back doubles before Rice recorded a two-run homerun to give the Rams a 3-0 advantage. Leading 5-1 in the fifth, FSC extended their advantage to 8-1 with an RBI single by junior shortstop Brian Perez (Levittown, N.Y.) and a two-run double by junior second baseman Tyler Schrimpf (Miller Place, N.Y.). The Rams would add runs on a Joey Barbuto (North Babylon, N.Y.) single, a sacrifice fly from Attardi and a run-scoring balk as they went on for the 11-4 victory.
Perez finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one run batted in, while Attardi had two hits and two RBI's. Junior Joe Marino (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) (1-0) picked up his first win of the season after pitching four innings of one-run ball
In game two, Farmingdale State trailed 2-0 before scoring six unanswered runs. FSC used a Michael Amandola (North Babylon, N.Y.) RBI single and a run-scoring throwing error to tie the game at 2-2. The Rams followed with RBI's from Rice, sophomore right fielder Cam Alfano (Yaphank, N.Y.), and junior's Morgan McCarthy (Oceanside, N.Y.) and Jimmy Mattera (West Islip, N.Y.) to go up 6-2. FSC would go on for the 6-4 win behind a complete game from junior Steven Burke (North Babylon, N.Y.) (W, 1-0: 7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 4 SO).
Both Mattera and Rice had three hits, one run batted in and a run scored, while Amandola and senior third baseman Shawn Blasberg (Sound Beach, N.Y.) were 2-for-3 with one run scored.
Sunday, March 17th
The Rams defeated Clarkson, 2-1, in a single game on Sunday.
FSC fell behind 1-0 after the first inning but scored runs in both the second and third innings to lead them to the one-run victory. FSC scored on a throwing error in the second to tie the game at 1-1 and used an RBI triple from Rice in the third to go up 2-1. After four scoreless innings in relief for senior Logan Hicks (Ekron, KY) (1-0), senior Ryan Mallon (Deer Park, N.Y.) secured the save as he set down Clarkson 1-2-3 in the ninth.
Monday, March 18th
Farmingdale State split with Framingham State on Monday, falling in game one, 2-0, and earning a 6-5, 10-inning victory in the second game.
The Rams only managed two hits off senior LHP Kyle Hodgson (Berkley, Mass.) (2-0) in game one. Hodgson took a perfect game into the sixth inning and recorded a complete game shutout for his second win of the year.
FSC trailed 5-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning of the second game and scored four runs without recording an out to tie the game. Amandola led off the inning with a double and was quickly driven in on an RBI single by Perez. With the bases loaded three batters later, a hit-by-pitch and a walk forced in two runs to close within just one at 5-4. Mattera was the next batter and he recorded an RBI single to right to tie the game. The Rams had bases loaded with no one out but were unable to score as the game went into extra innings.
In the bottom of the tenth inning, Amandola registered a base hit through the right side and quickly stole second base. Two batters later, Burke tallied the game-winning single up the middle to score Amandola and give Farmingdale State the 6-5 victory.
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