Owls Mash Six Home Runs in 22-5 Rout of Framingham

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior Dan Burnett (Granville, Mass.) and junior Thomas LaSpada (West Hartford, Conn.) each hit two home runs as the Owls mashed six homers as a team to blast Framingham State 22-5 in a MASCAC game from Bowditch Field in Framingham, Mass. on Friday afternoon.

The Owls improve to 6-5 in the MASCAC and 19-8 overall while the Rams fall to 4-7 in the league and 6-20 on the year. Westfield piled up 20-plus runs for the fourth time this season and have combined for 41 runs over the team's last two conference victories.

Similar to the way the Owls started their last game against MCLA, Westfield jumped in front in the top half of the first with a solo home run, this time off the bat of Burnett, upping his home run total to nine on the season.

The turning point in the game occurred between the bottom of the first and the top of the second. The first three Rams hitters reached base, loading the bases with nobody out. JC Espinal (Peabody, Mass.) came to the plate next and hit a sinking line drive into right field where Justin Neidel (Attleboro, Mass.) made a sensational diving play before firing the ball into second base to double off the runner at second.

Dane Frellick (Fairview, N.C.) salvaged a run out of the frame for Framingham on a two-out single to right field but Dominic Novio (Mansfield, Mass.) and the Owls defense contained the Rams to only one run, setting the stage for a massive second inning that essentially put the game out of reach.

The Owls sent 12 hitters to the plate in the second, using plate discipline early in the inning to begin the scoring burst before a loud finish capped a nine-run frame to drive Westfield into the double digit run mark.

With the bases loaded and one out, a hit-by-pitch followed by three consecutive walks brought in four runs to increase the lead to 5-1. Framingham had an opportunity to escape the inning without allowing additional runs, but the relentless Owls offense pumped out two additional hits – A two-run single from Nick Marshall (Reading, Mass.) followed by a three-run homer from Robison Baez (Dominican Republic) which inflicted a damaging blow to the Rams chances as the Owls led 10-1 midway through the second.

Lucas Basile (Upton, Mass.) homered for Framingham in the second inning, but the Westfield offense continued its onslaught for the next three innings, scoring ten more runs to reach the 20-run mark after just five innings of play.

The Owls launched a pair of homers in the third inning, the first a leadoff long ball from LaSpada, then three batters later, Burnett uncorked his second home run of the game to bring in Sam Palmer (Medfield, Mass.) to make it a 13-1 game.

Burnett has racked up 19 home runs in his Owls career which moved him up to fourth all-time in program history, passing Nolan Florence '24, Shawn Murphy '98, and Jack Dougherty '76 who all finished with 18 career home runs.

LaSpada belted his second roundtripper of the game an inning later, unloading one to left-centerfield for a two-run shot to make it a 16-1 contest.

In the fifth inning, a pair of singles from Chase Racine (Pittsfield, Mass.) and Devin Slattery (Ware, Mass.) set up Marshall who connected for the Owls sixth home run of the game with a three-run blast to straightaway center. LaSpada punctuated the inning with a RBI double to centerfield to plate Westfield's 20^th run.

First-year Jorge Rosario (Bay Shore, N.Y.) got into the scoring action in the sixth inning, registering his first collegiate hit and RBI on a single into centerfield. Connor Benvenuto (New City, N.Y.) had the same result in the sixth, tallying the first hit of his collegiate career on a RBI single.

Burnett, Marshall, and LaSpada all recorded three hits with Marshall leading all players with five RBI. 13 different Owls recorded a hit and eight different Owls picked up an RBI.

Novio earned the win for the Owls, allowing two runs across five innings, allowing nine hits and striking out three. Javier Lopez (Springfield, Mass.) took the loss for the Rams, allowing seven runs in 1.1 innings. Framingham threw seven different arms in the game.

Westfield State and Framingham State will continue the series tomorrow at noon from Bud and Jim Hagan Field in Westfield, Mass.