Baseball Cruises to 15-3 Rout of UMass Dartmouth

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. -- The visiting Bridgewater State University baseball team scored early and often as the Bears downed the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth, 15-3, in a non-conference game on Thursday afternoon at the UMass Dartmouth Athletic Complex.

The Bears took the lead by scoring five runs in the top of the first inning. Junior shortstop Trevor Lawson (Easton, MA) and junior right fielder Tory Buck (Shelburne Falls, MA) each had two-run singles, and junior third baseman Craig Stewart (Brockton, MA) had an RBI single.

Senior catcher Matt Worden (New Bedford, MA) knocked in a run for the Corsairs in their half of the first with a single.

BSU got five more in the top of the third. Junior second baseman Sean Riley (Fairhaven, MA) knocked in two runs with a triple and junior designated hitter Jose Polanco (Lawrence, MA) and Lawson each singled home a run.

Freshman first baseman Alex Newton (Saco, ME) doubled home UMD's other two runs in the last of the fifth inning to cut the deficit to 10-3.

Bridgewater put the game well out of reach with a four-run sixth inning highlighted by a pair of run-scoring singles by junior first baseman David Pierce (East Bridgewater, Mass.) and junior leftfielder Ian Williams (Taunton, Mass.).  The Bears capped off the scoring with a run in the ninth as sophomore James Gilmore (Mansfield, Mass.), who had entered the game as a pinch hitter in the eighth, walked with the bases loaded.

The Bears finished the game with 20 hits led by Williams who went 4-for-5 with a run and an RBI.  Stewart finished 3-for-4 with four runs scored and one driven in as he reached safely in five of his six plate appearances.  Pierce went 3-for-7 while Riley, Lawson and Buck notched two hits and two RBI apiece.

Junior Bryant Warner (Harwich, MA) went the distance for BSU on the mound, improving to 3-1.  Warner scattered six hits, walked three and fanned six.

Junior John Quigg (Weymouth, MA) started and took the loss for UMass Dartmouth, falling to 2-2.  Quigg was tagged for ten runs (eight earned) on 11 hits in just three innings of work.  He walked three and struck out two.

UMass Dartmouth dropped to 13-17 with the defeat, while Bridgewater State improved to 21-12 with the victory. The Corsairs will return to action when they visit Western Connecticut State Saturday. The Bears, who have won six straight games and 12 of their last 13, will visit Worcester State Saturday.