Salem, Mass.  – Mike Richardson (Belmont, Mass.) fired a no-hitter to lead Salem State to a 1-0 victory in the first game of a MASCAC doubleheader against Framingham State on Tuesday afternoon. Richardson struck out six while allowing only one Framingham State player to reach base – Billy Derosier (Shrewsbury, Mass.) – with a third inning walk.  Framingham State bounced back in game two behind the arm of Zach Kirby (Rochester, Mass.), who fired a complete game, four-hit shutout, as the Rams blanked the Vikings 2-0.   

Salem State goes to 14-10 and 4-2 in conference while Framingham State is now 16-10 and 5-3 in the MASCAC.

Game 1
Richardson threw the first no-hitter for Salem State since Talal Saleh no-hit Becker College 6-0 in 2006. The sophomore righty lowered his season ERA to 0.71 while improving to 4-1 on the season.

Framingham State, which was the home team due to the game being moved to Salem State, was kept off-balance by Richardson from the start as he recorded four strikeouts over the first two innings. Right fielder Kevin Carens (Northborough, Mass.) made a nice catch on a flare off the bat of Mark Mainini (Hull, Mass.) as that was the closest the Rams would come to a hit all game.    

Mike Andrews (Stoneham, Mass.) was equally effective in keeping the Vikings off the scoreboard for the Rams. Andrews (2-3) scattered seven hits and recorded two strikeouts, but gave up the lone run in the third after Richard Fecteau (Newbury, Mass.) sliced a double into the left field corner, and came home on a fielder's choice after Framingham State failed to turn a double play on a very close play at first.

Neither team threated again as both pitchers settled in, combining for just two walks in a game that took just one hour and fifteen minutes to play.  

Fecteau and George Tsonis (Peabody, Mass.) finished with two hits apiece for Salem State.
 
Game 2
Kirby (4-1) went the distance in the second game, striking out eight while allowing just two walks.  The senior worked out of a sixth inning jam when the Rams were leading by a score of 1-0, but following a double steal by Carens and Fecteau that put runners on second and third with just one out, Kirby recorded the last two outs, the final one a strikeout to preserve the lead.

Framingham State scored the only run it would need in the bottom of the first. Kevin Driscoll (Chelmsford, Mass.) walked and following a steal, came home on a single by Derosier.  The Rams added an insurance run in the sixth when Derosier hit his league-leading sixth homerun to make the score 2-0.

Vikings starter Will Twiss (Masconomet, Mass.) pitched well, as he allowed just two runs on six hits with three strikeouts in the loss. Twiss is now 1-2 on the season.

Salem State goes to Endicott this Thursday for a 3:30 start, while Framingham State hosts UMass-Dartmouth  at the New England Baseball Complex in Northboro, Mass. at 7:00 PM tomorrow.