THE BASICS 

Score: Emerson 14, Framingham State 9 

Records: Emerson Lions (1-0) ; Framingham State Rams (0-1) 

Pitching Decision: W - Chris Lowe (1-0) ; L - Cameron Prescott (0-1)

Location: Northboro, Mass. (New England Baseball Complex) 

Date: March 1, 2022

The Lead: Between the sixth and seventh innings, the Emerson baseball team crossed homeplate for a combined seven runs to power the Lions to a 14-9 win over Framingham State on Tuesday afternoon to open the 2022 season. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

EMERSON

Thai Morgan: 4-for-5, double, two stolen bases & four runs scored
Quinton Copeland: 3-for-5, two doubles, four runs scored, two stolen bases & five RBIs
Matt Nachamie: 2-for-4, three RBI
Jake Hatch: 2-for-five, two home runs & three RBIs
Lou Davolio: 1-for-5, run scored & two RBI
Calvin Jacey: 2-for-4, RBI

PITCHING: Ty Bourne - 2.0 innings pitched, four hits, four runs, four walks & three strikeouts
Benny Guevara - 3.0 innings pitched, four hits, four runs (two earned), two walks & three strikeouts
Lowe - 4.0 innings pitched, two hits, one run & eight strikeouts 

FRAMINGHAM STATE 

Lucas Basile: 2-for-5, double, one run scored & one RBI
Robert Johnston: 2-for-3, double & two RBI
Joseph Fasolino: 1-for-5, home run & one RBI
Steven Burbank: 1-for-3, three runs scored 

PITCHING: Anthony Panza - 2.1 innings pitched, five hits, four runs & six strikeouts
Cameron Prescott - 2.2 innings pitched, four hits, four runs & two walks
Jorgell Diaz - 1.1 innings pitched, two hits, two runs & two strikeouts
Ryan Morry - 1.0 innings pitched & one strikeout
Jack Foley - .2 innings pitched, four hits, four runs & two walks

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Framingham State was able spread four runs within the first two innings to snag an early 4-1 lead over Emerson, starting when Burbank drew a two-out bases loaded walk in the first inning. 
• Emerson snuck in a run of their own in the bottom of the first when Nachamie roped an RBI double into left to drive home Morgan to level the score 1-all. 
• Costly Emerson defensive miscues allowed Framingham State to jump to the three-run lead on a wild pitch, balk and grounder to second. Another wild pitch by Lions pitching put another Rams' run across in the top of the third with the visitor's lead now at 5-1.
• Down four runs to begin the home half of the third, the Emerson bats came alive and knotted up the score 5-all. 
• Senior Joe Colucci safely reaching first on a drop third strike set proved beneficial for Emerson as he and Morgan plated a pair when Copeland batted a two-run RBI single into left to inch the Lions within two at 5-3.
• With Copeland on third, Nachamie sent a deep sacrifice fly into center to allow the fourth Emerson run to come home, which was enough to drive Panza out of the game. Hatch welcomed Foley into the game as he took a pitch over the left field fence to tie the game at 5-all. 
• The two teams battled through the middle innings as Framingham State once again capitalized on Emerson's defensive mistakes and took the two-run 7-5 edge. 
• Kevin Girardin scored on a throwing error to first and was followed by Johnston, who sent an RBI double into left. Johnston tried to stretch his double into a triple, but was tagged out at third to end the inning. 
• In the bottom of the fourth, Copeland put his bat to work to help Emerson get themselves back in the mix. With no outs, he batted in Colucci and Morgan when he rocketed an RBI two-bagger into left with the score at 7-all. A grounder to second by Davolio allowed Copeland to cross as the Lions claimed their first lead at 8-7. 
• Framingham State was not going away quietly and leveled the score at 8-all in the top of the fifth when Basile sent the eighth run home behind an RBI double into left. 
• Between the sixth and seventh frames, Emerson sent six runs home on six hits to gain the 14-8 cushion, a lead that the Lions would never relinquish. 
• Five runs came around in the sixth and started when Copeland's second double landed in the right center gap to bring in Morgan for the go-ahead run at 9-8.
• Davolio kept the inning alive with a two-out RBI single that allowed Hatch to bat and for the second time, Hatch rocketed a pitch over the left field fence to give Emerson the 12-8 lead.
• Emerson used the power of the double to help propel their lead as Jacey and Nachamie used them to power the hosts to the 14-8 with seven innings in the books. 
• Lowe kept the Framingham State bats from doing any damage to Emerson's six-run lead. With a runner on third and two outs, he got Fasolino to ground out to first to wrap the sixth. The Rams' bats had no answers in the seventh as he sent them down in order on strikes. 
• Continued dominance on the rubber from Lowe allowed him to put up zeros in the eighth before he surrendered a solo shot to Fasolino. After the home run, Emerson used back-to-back punch outs to snag the 14-9 victory. 

UP NEXT

• Emerson stays on its home diamond on Thursday, March 3rd and host New England College at 3:00 p.m. at the New England Baseball Complex.