Baseball Blanks Newbury, 9-0

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Six pitchers combined on a three-hit shutout as the Bridgewater State University baseball team cruised to a 9-0 victory over visiting Newbury College on Tuesday afternoon at Alumni Park.

The host Bears improve to 3-6 on the season while the visiting Nighthawks fall to 1-8.

The six BSU hurlers also combined to strike out 17 batters in the game.

Sophomore Matt Josselyn (Hanson, Mass.) got the start on the mound for the Bears and worked the first three innings. Josselyn allowed just one hit and fanned three. Senior Shawn Smeglin (Wakefield, Mass.) picked up the win in relief. Smeglin (2-1) faced seven batters, gave up one hit and struck out five.

Freshman Tyler Dasilva-Medeiros (Taunton, Mass.), junior Alex McGrath (Bridgewater, Mass.), freshman Chris Hanna (Kingston, Mass.) and sophomore David Kerns (Cambridge, Mass.) each tossed a scoreless inning and combined for nine strikeouts.

Offensively for the Bears, senior Kevin Bresciani (Hopedale, Mass.) reached safely in all four of his plate appearances as he singled twice, doubled, walked and scored two runs. Classmate Dominic Precopio (Framingham, Mass.) also had three hits as he went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, a run and two runs batted in.

Senior Gavin Sparkman (Beverly, Mass.) and junior Lewis Robinson (New Britain, Conn.) also finished with multiple hits for the Bears. Sparkman went 2-for-4 with two doubles and four runs batted in, while Robinson was 2-for-5 at the plate with a run and two RBI.

Precopio got the Bears on the board with an RBI single in the first. Sparkman doubled home a run in the second to make it a 2-0 game.

Bridgewater tacked on two more runs in the third. Junior Jonathan Livolsi (Bridgewater, Mass.) was hit by a pitch to start the rally and advanced to third on a double by Precopio. Livolsi raced home on a wild pitch for the first run of the inning and Precopio scored on Robinson's RBI ground out to give the Bears a 4-0 lead.

The score remained that way until the seventh. An RBI single off the bat of Robinson followed by a bases clearing, three-run double by Sparkman extended the BSU advantage to 8-0. The Bears added a run in the eighth on Precopio's RBI double to account for the final score.

Freshman Joe Persechino (Torrington, Conn.) suffered the loss on the mound for Newbury as he worked two-plus innings. Persechino (1-1) allowed four runs on four hits with a walk and a strikeout. Senior Mark Travers (Norwood, Mass.), who gave up a pair of inherited runners to score, was not charged with a run in three innings of relief. Travers scatted four hits and walked two.

The Bears open Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) play on Friday afternoon at home against Salem State University. First pitch is slated for three o'clock. The Nighthawks entertain Emerson College on Thursday afternoon at 3:30.

Notes: The last time the Bears fanned 17 or more batters in a game was on April 30, 2009 as three BSU pitchers combined to strike out 18 batters in 6-5, 13-inning win over MCLA....The Bears' single-game (nine inning) record for strikeouts is 20 by Steve Ogden on May 6, 1982....Livolsi and Precopio both extended their season-long hitting streaks to nine games....Bell has hit safely in six straight games.