Falcons Pitching Staff Give Up Only Two Hits In The Second Straight Sweep Of The Gators

Falcons Pitching Staff Give Up Only Two Hits In The Second Straight Sweep Of The Gators

Lynn, MA- Coming off a sweep of the Pine Manor Gators on Senior Day, the Falcons increased their win streak over PMC to eight games with another sweep on Sunday afternoon. Fisher's pitching staff let up just two hits over 14 innings of play, including a combined no-hitter for the first game in which they won 11-0. The two hits came in the second game when Pine Manor was able to get on the board but fell to the Falcons 12-1. 

Game 1- Falcons starter Jose Galan (Alta, PR) came out firing for his squad as he struck out the side in the top of the first inning and the home team bats went right to work in the bottom half of the inning. Jorge Sanchez (Caguas, PR) continued to produce in the #1 spot as he started the game with a double off of Gators starter Garrett Gagnon. Ivan Rivera (Brooklyn, NY) and Mitchell Lundholm (Plymouth, MA) followed with back-to-back singles to make it 2-0 after just three batters. John Batista (Lawrence, MA) collected his first hit of the day, a single to center that scored Lundholm for the 3-0 lead. An errant throw by the centerfielder allowed Batista to move up to third on the play and Cameron Pearson (Orlando, FL) earned his first RBI of the day by hitting a grounder to the right side to score Batista and make it 4-0 after one full inning.

Galan ran into some trouble in the second inning as a walk and two hit batsman loaded the bases with two outs, but a grounder to Ismael Perez (Brooklyn, NY) ended the threat with the Fisher lead in tact. After a quiet second, the Falcons got the bats going again and were able to put runs on the scoreboard in every inning for the remainder of the contest. The Falcons shelled out 10 hits over the next four innings, scoring seven unanswered runs to take Game 1, 11-0. Falcons relievers Angel Alicea (Caguas, PR), senior Wesley Lopez (Caguas, PR), and Jared Dane (Fontana, CA) all worked scoreless innings out of the bullpen, allowing just one baserunner while striking out five Gators.

Fisher's bats amassed 15 hits in the win, including seven extra base hits. Lundholm, Sanchez, and Jonathan Rosado (Bayamon, PR) had great days at the plate as they combined for eight hits, six runs and five RBI's, while Perez and Ismael Tatis (Methuen, MA) both hit dingers in the win, both firsts of their Falcons careers. Galan earned his fourth win of the season, striking out another seven to bring his season total to 60. Gagnon took the loss for the Gators, giving up seven earned runs for his third loss of the season. 

Game 2- Despite only having seven hits in the nightcap, the Falcons banged out 12 runs to take Game 2, 12-1. Each team went quietly in the first as Falcons starter Johann Doerrer (Dolgeville, NY) had a 1-2-3 inning to start. FC got on the board first, scoring three in the bottom of the second on a pair of hits, taking advantage of leadoff walks drawn by Perez and Batista. Joshua Rogers (Highlands Ranch, CO) plated them both on a hard hit double in the gap off of Gators starter Brandon Gallegos to make it 2-0 and fellow catcher Reynaldo Mejia (Lawrence, MA) followed with a single knocking in Rogers to go up 3-0 after two. 

The Falcons tacked on a pair of runs in both the third and fourth innings to make it 7-0 after four innings. Smart baserunning paid off in the third as after Lundholm was hit by a pitch, he stole second and then moved up to third and home on wild pitches. Pearson added another RBI, scoring Batista who walked in the inning to go up 5-0. Another one-hit inning in the fourth earned the Falcons another pair of runs, taking advantage of a pair of walks and a Gators error to take the 7-0 lead. Doerrer worked four no-hit innings before he was relieved by John Hilcher (Bloomfield, NJ) who ran into a little trouble to start his outing allowing two straight singles to put runners on the corners. But he came back and forced a double play, allowing just one Gator to score to make it a 7-1 game. George Gali (Guayama, PR) came in to replace Hilcher and got the final out of the fifth to keep it a 7-1 game. Fisher put the game out of reach with a five-run fifth to take the 12-1 lead. Hits by Rogers, Jordan Gosselin (Rochester, NY) and Sami Bibovic (Brooklyn, NY) and a pair of sac flies from Reynaldo Vega (Aguada, PR) and Lundholm provided the offense for the Falcons in the inning, and would take the 12-1 lead to the 6th. John Travieso (Miami, FL), Kevin Bongiovanni (Bayside, NY) and Yamil Delgado (Caguas, PR) worked out of the pen for the final six outs and the Falcons would earn their 34th win of the season.

Rogers was the only Falcon to collect multiple hits in the nightcap, going 2 for 3 with a pair of runs and RBI's, while Gosselin finished with a pair of RBI's in the win. Doerrer earned the win to bring his record to 4-2 on the year, allowing no hits while striking out four. Gallegos took the loss for the Gators, allowing six earned runs with a pair of K's. Yaxander Baez and Paul Kittredge earned the only two hits for the Gators in the losing effort. 

The Falcons will have their first away game since Spring Break when they head to Albany on Friday to take on the Bryant & Stratton Bobcats for a four-game series over the weekend.