Salem Edges Westfield, 3-1, in MASCAC Baseball Tournament Elimination Game

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Fourth-seeded Salem State knocked of number two Westfield State, 3-1, in an elimination game of the 2012 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Baseball Tournament on Saturday morning at Alumni Park in Bridgewater.

Salem (30-11-1) advances to the loser's bracket final today at 4:00 PM versus Framingham State.  Framingham, the number two seed, dropped a 3-0 decision to top-seeded Bridgewater State in the winner's bracket final.  Westfield ends the season with a record of 20-18.

The Vikings plated an unearned run in the top of the second as Brett Cahill (Gloucester, Mass.) walked to lead-off the inning and advanced to third on a throwing error.  Cahill would trot home with the first run of the game one batter later on Westfield's second infield error of the frame.

Salem made it a 2-0 game in the fourth as Kyle McElroy (Newburyport, Mass.), Chris Cocci (Wakefield, R.I.) and Matt Burgess (Kingston, Mass.) strung together three consecutive singles all coming with two outs.

Westfield cut the deficit in half with a run in the bottom of the seventh as Kyle Colesanti (Mount Kisco, N.Y.) singled with one out, moved to third two batters later on a base hit by Dan Rokitowski (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.), and scored on Kevin Greene's (Worcester, Mass.) two-out, RBI single.

Salem added an insurance tally in the eighth as Steve Buitkis (Reading, Mass.) rapped a base hit to lead off the frame and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt.  Nick Conti (Lynn, Mass.) then ripped a double to left to plate Buitkis and give the Viking's a 3-1 lead.

Ryan Hyjek (Tolland, Conn.) got the win on the mound for Salem as he worked the first 6 1/3 innings.  Hyjek (6-2) allowed one run on seven hits with a walk and three strikeouts.  Ryan Beliveau (Lynn, Mass.) picked up his second save of the season as he recorded the final eight outs.  Beliveau gave up four hits and fanned three.

Mike Molta (Nantucket, Mass.) suffered the loss for Westfield as he went eight innings giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Westfield out-hit Salem by a margin of 11-6 but left 11 runners on the base.  Rokitowski paced the Owls with a 4-for-5 performance at the plate, while Josh Blair (Westfield, Mass.) went 3-for-4 with a triple.