Baseball Splits Twinbill with Elizabethtown

VERO BEACH, Fla. — The Bridgewater State University baseball team split a doubleheader with Elizabethtown College on Thursday in Vero Beach Florida.

After dropping a 4-2 decision in the opener, the Bears (5-3) earned the split with a big come-from-behind 5-4 victory in game two.

Down 4-2, back to back solo home runs off the bats of Keane Costa (Fairhaven, Mass.) and Craig Stewart (Brockton, Mass.) tied the game in the fifth inning.  David Pierce (East Bridgewater, Mass.) then put Bridgewater ahead 5-4 as he doubled home Tory Buck (Shelburne Falls, Mass.) all the way from first with two outs in the sixth.

BSU right-hander Jim Balboni (Townsend, Mass.) settled down after giving up four runs over the first two innings to post the complete game win.  Balboni (1-1) scattered seven hits, walked five and struck out eight.

Stewart went 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBI for the Bears in game two as he also doubled home Bridgewater's first run of the game in the second. Costa finished 1-for-3 as he drove in a pair of runs including an RBI ground out in the third which cut the deficit to 4-2.

Kyle Wilt (Macungie, Pa.) picked up the loss out of the bullpen for Elizabethtown in his first appearance this season.  Tyler Weary (Gardners, Pa.) and Jon Bacher (Wilmington, Del.) connected for two hits apiece to lead the Blue Jays offensively.

Mark Minisce (Wernersville, Pa.) hurled 6 2/3 solid innings for his first win of the season in the opener.  Minisce (1-0) gave up just two runs on five hits with a walk and a strikeout.  Todd Leister (Stanhope, N.J.) got the final out of the game to record the save, his first off the season.

Bridgewater rallied from a 4-0 deficit with a run in the sixth on an RBI single by Ian Williams (Taunton, Mass.).  Stewart belted his first of two home runs in the twinbill to lead off the bottom of the seventh to pull the Bears to within two.  Trevor Lawson (Easton, Mass.) reached on an error with two outs in the seventh to keep the inning alive, but Leister came on to end the game with a strikeout.

Corey Batista (Fall River, Mass.) suffered the loss for Bridgewater as he surrendered four runs on 11 hits.  Batista (1-1) walked two, struck out six and was charged with three wild pitches.

Pierce went 2-for-3 with a walk and run scored to pace the Bears' offense in game one.

Steve Motika (Kutztown, Pa.), Dillon Tagle (Ringoes, N.J.) and Pat Mulligan (Middletown, Pa.) notched two hits apiece to lead the Blue Jays' 11-hit attack in the opener.