MILTON, Mass. – Jake Frasca bombed a three RBI homer in the top of the ninth to pull the Suffolk baseball team within one of Curry, but the Rams could not complete the comeback as the Colonels retired next three Suffolk batters to secure the 15-14 victory at D. Forbes Will Field Complex.
Frasca's three-run homer in the ninth came after the freshman hit one out of the park in the fifth to boost Suffolk's (22-9) offense. Frasca was one of three Rams to record three hits on the day as he went 3-for-6 with three RBIs and scored three himself. Brady Chant and Matt Brenner each had three hits, one RBI and one run to their credit. Sean Cameron and Rob Marks added to the offense, each striking twice with two RBIs apiece. Cameron scored two runs, while Marks scored once.
The game ended with an exclamation point, but the non-conference contest was exciting from the get go as two walks and a single to short right by Alex McLean the Colonels (9-19) loaded the bases in the bottom of the first with no outs. Tim Conroy fanned Curry's clean up hitter Philip Perez to put one out on the board. Marks caught Nick Crivello's fly out in left field and made the throw to home to Brenner in time as the junior catcher tagged the runner, John Arens, to keep the hosts quiet.
The Rams went to work in the top of the second as Jon Lapolla started things off with a single through the left side and moved into scoring position on a passed ball. Frasca drove him in on a double to left field, his 12th hit for two bases of the season, to break open the scoring. Drew Carter and Julien Plana found the exact same game with the former moving Frasca over and the the latter bringing the freshman second baseman in. Two batters later, Sean Cameron let go a long ball that fell just inside the center field fence and was grabbed in the air, but Carter came in the play to make it a 3-0 Suffolk game. Curry put the inning away on a caught foul, but the Rams' already did their damage.
The Colonels did not stay quiet for long as they grabbed three runs with two outs to level the playing field. Anthony Sciaudone's single that landed right inside the center field fence scored Matt Fogarty, who led off the inning with a double to right field, to get things going. Arens and and Jack Kallinich followed Schiaudone's lead and found a similar hole in center field to bring in one run each and made it a 3-all game. McLean attempted to place another in center, but Brady Chant was under in to end the inning and keep things tied up.
After a three-up, three-down top of the third for the blue-and-gold, Curry found a knack for scoring with two-outs. William De la Cruz's single RBI brought in the Colonel's go-ahead run, Fogarty, who got on with a double to right.
Curry scored its first run without an out in the bottom of the fourth. With bases loaded, and a new Suffolk pitcher, Tyler Zell, R.J. McCann struck a single to make it a 5-3 game. From there, Zell and the Rams put two outs on the board, but the Colonels would roll in five more runs to stretch their lead to 10-3.
Marks cut the Colonels lead in half in the next inning. The senior left fielder drove a single to deep right field to bring in Cameron and Chant, who were on third and second, respectively. Cameron led off with a bunt and Chant pushed him to third on a double.
The Rams then pulled a trick out of the Colonels' book and tacked on six runs with two outs. Frasca kept the top of the fifth alive with a jack to left field, his fifth of the season and second at Jack Vallely Diamond this season, bringing in Marks with him to cut the deficit to three, 10-7. Brenner followed with a lobbed single to center and Carter crossed home as the Rams returned to the top of the lineup. Cameron's single to left plated Plana and Chant's second double of the inning and day, scored Brenner and Cameron to put Suffolk in front, 11-10.
The tides turned once again in the bottom of the inning as Curry registered four runs. Fogarty's three-RBI homer put the Colonels ahead 13-11, before McCann knocked in McLean, who reached on a double of his own, to make it a 14-11 Curry game after a complete five.
The Colonels looked to stretch their lead in the bottom of the sixth when their offense started rolling thanks to Crivello's single through the left side, again with two outs. Crivello advanced to third on Fogarty's single and went in to score, but Frasca fired the ball to Brenner just in time to end the inning and keep the run from coming in.
Curry would tack one on in seventh to put the Rams in a four-run hole. Kallinich's single that scored Lary, who singled himself, proved to be an important insurance run as Frasca knocked in the three-run homer to make things interesting..
The Colonels' Brandon Bercovitz came in with only one out in the top ninth to preserve the 15-14 score to make it final.
Kyle Connors earned the win after 3.2 innings, yielding four runs, only three earned, on eight hits, while fanning five. Wyatt Stanley was handed the loss after he gave up four earned runs on eight hits, while strikeout out one batter.
Up next for the Rams, Suffolk will host Johnson & Wales in a GNAC doubleheader tomorrow. First pitch of Game 1 is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at East Boston Memorial Park.