Courtesy Framingham State Sports Information

Framingham, Mass. — The Framingham State College baseball team has been selected to participate in the 2010 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Baseball Tournament as the fifth seed.  The fifth seeded Rams will face fourth seed Suffolk University on Wednesday, May 12^th at Adams Field in Quincy.

The Rams, led by 2010 MASCAC Baseball Coach of the Year Brian Blumsack, are making their first ECAC Tournament appearance since 1998 and their 10^th overall appearance.  The Rams 23-17 record this season ties the FSC single season win mark and is only the seventh time the Rams have reached the 20 win mark.   Blumsack’s Rams went 11-3 in the MASCAC this season which placed them second in the conference standings and earned them their highest tournament seed.   It was the Rams first post-season appearance since 2003 and as the second seed marked the first time that they hosted a home playoff game.   

The Rams starting pitching staff is led by a pair of second team All-MASCAC pitchers in Charlie Spear (Exeter, NH) and Tommy Lindberg (Stratford, Conn.) who went a combined 7-1 with two no decisions in regular season conference games this season and both rank in the conference’s top ten in ERA.  Spear’s record stands at 3-4 on the year with a 4.34 ERA.  Opponents are only hitting .232 off Spear, who has 49 strikeouts on the season.  Lindberg has a 5-2 overall record, including a perfect 4-0 mark in the MASCAC during the regular season.  He has tossed three complete games and has an ERA of 3.72.  The Rams bullpen is led by junior reliever Matthew Magazine (Marlborough, Mass) who has allowed only nine earned runs in 36 innings of work for a team best ERA of 2.25.

Offensively, the Rams are led by freshman outfielder Will Crofton (Hopkinton, Mass.), who is hitting a team-high .356 with six doubles, a triple and three homeruns.  Junior outfielder Corey Ketterer (Plymouth, Mass.), an All-MASCAC second team selection, is second on the team with a .350 average and leads the Rams with 48 hits and an on base percentage of .468. 

Outfielder Steven Tramontozzi (Watertown, Mass.), the Rams lone first team All-MASCAC selection in 2010, is batting .317 with 15 doubles, five homers and a team-best 51 RBI.  Catcher Sean Callahan (Watertown, Mass.) also received all-conference honors and is hitting .336 with seven doubles, 34 RBI and five homeruns including two walk off homers.  He leads the Rams defense with a .994 fielding percentage.

Suffolk University compiled a 21-16 overall record and 13-1 record in the Great Northeast Conference.  The Suffolk Rams were defeated 5-4 in the championship game of the GNAC Tournament by St. Joseph’s College (ME) on Sunday.  Suffolk head coach Cary McConnell was honored as the GNAC Coach of the Year, while freshman Jhonneris Mendez (Roslindale, Mass.) was named the GNAC Rookie of the Year.  The third baseman is hitting .389 with four homeruns and 29 RBI.

Rounding out the tournament field are top seed Curry College (27-13) who hosts eighth seed Daniel Webster College (21-16), second seed Endicott College (24-17) who hosts seventh seed Anna Maria College (21-18) and third seed Wentworth (27-14) who hosts sixth seed Husson University (23-20).  The single elimination tournament begins on Wednesday with the higher seed hosting and concludes over the weekend in a final four format.