Baseball Edged By Bulldogs In Extra Innings

Abt, Kelly & Riordan drive two each for Green & Gold

Northboro, MA. – The Fitchburg State University Baseball team dropped a tough 9-8 decision to the Bulldogs of Dean College in ten innings to open their 2026 season at the New England Baseball Complex this afternoon.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 8, Dean 9

Records: Fitchburg State (0-1, 0-0 MASCAC) I Dean (1-0, 0-0 GNAC)

How It Happened

Dean grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as sophomore Bert Maxim (Teaneck, NJ) doubled and scored on an RBI double f=by senior Nick Amendolara (Bayville, NY) before senior Tyler Giambra (Prospect, CT) drove in classmate Jacob Paschetto (East Longmeadow, MA) with an RBI groundout.

The Bulldogs upped the advantage to 3-0 in the bottom of second inning with senior Gavin Goss (Glenwood Landing, NY) drawing a walk, moving to second on a balk and crossing the plate as freshman Case LaChance (Latham, NY) singled.

Fitchburg State answered back in the top of the fourth when sophomore Benjamin Forbes (Ashburnham, MA) walked, senior Brady Campbell (Sandwich, MA) was hit by a pitch and junior Benjamin Rewenko (Burlington, CT) drew a walk to load the bases before junior Jason Kelly (East Bridgewater, MA) laced a two-run double to drive home Forbes and Campbell to make the score 3-2

The hosts upped the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth when LaChance walked, advanced to second on a Maxim single and scored as Pashetto singled. The Green and Gold responded in the top of fifth when senior Joseph Abt (Newbury, MA) was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a Fonck groundout and crossed the plate on an RBI base knock from senior Maxwell Riordan (Pepperell, MA) to make the score 4-3.

Dean extended the lead to 5-3 in their half of the fifth with junior Matthew Dutton (Dublin, IR) reaching on a single, advanced to second on a base hit from Goss and scored as LaChance singled. The Green and Gold responded in the top of sixth as Abt was hit by a pitch and Fonck walked before Riordan collected an RBI single bring in Abt to cut the deficit to 5-4.

Fitchburg State grabbed the lead in the top of the seventh when Rewenko walked, Kelly singled and Bellew was hit by a pitch to load the bases before sophomore Ruairi Rago (Port Jefferson, NY) singled to drive in Rewenko, while Abt followed with a two-run double that scored Bellew and Kelly before Fonck collected a sacrifice fly that brought home Rago for the 8-5 advantage.

The Bulldogs knotted the score at 8-8 in the bottom of the seventh with Dutton and senior Colin Favata (Syosset, NY) crossing the plate on wild pitches and LaChance adding an RBI single that scored Goss.

With the contest knotted at 8-8, Dean pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the tenth, loading the bases on a double from Dutton and walks by Goss and Favata before LaChance walked to score pinch runner Spencer Waite (Amherst, MA), resulting in the 9-8 final.

By The Numbers

• Riordan paced the Falcons, going 3-of-6 with two RBI
• Abt finished 2-for-2 with a double, two runs scored, one stolen base and two RBI
• Sophomore Owen Corcoran (Stafford, VA) allowed one earned run on three hits and four strikeouts over two innings of work in a no decision for Fitchburg State
• For the Bulldogs, LaChance hit 3-for-4 with one run scored, one stolen base and four RBI
• Freshman Ryan Rocco (Gilbert, AZ) collected the win for Dean, giving up no hits with five K's over three innings of relief

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Wednesday, March 4th as they travel to Colby-Sawyer to take on the Chargers in non-conference, starting at 3:00PM.

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