Baseball Splits MASCAC Twinbill with Salem State

SALEM, Mass. -- The visiting Bridgewater State University baseball team split a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) doubleheader with Salem State University on Saturday afternoon at the Central Campus Baseball Field.

Brock Riley's (Lowell, Mass.) three-hit shutout propelled Salem State to a 9-0 win in the first game the twinbill. In game two, Matt McDonald's (Randolph, Mass.) RBI triple in the eighth inning spurred the Bears to an 8-7 win in extra innings after Salem had rallied from a two-run deficit in the seventh.

The Vikings are now 8-6 on the season and 2-1 in the MASCAC, while the Bears go to 4-8 on the year and 1-2 in conference play.

Game One

Riley (3-1) tossed a complete game with six strikeouts in picking up his third win of the year in the opener. He allowed just three singles and a pair of walks over seven innings.

Traverse Briana's (Lynn, Mass.) sacrifice fly gave the Vikings a 1-0 lead in the first. In the fourth inning, Brendan Greene's (Winchester, Mass.) RBI single to center field put Salem State on top, 2-0.

The Vikings put the game out of reach with a seven-run, sixth inning. Fitzgerald and Briana opened the frame with back-to-back doubles and Mike Griffin (Hudson, NH) followed with an RBI single to extend the lead to 4-0. After a hit and a walk loaded the bases with one out, Matt Marquez (Salem, Mass.) blasted a three-run triple to break the game open. Zac Duval (Middleton, Mass.) and Briana added RBI singles to cap off the scoring and give the hosts a 9-0 lead.

Matt Josselyn (Hanson, Mass.) took the loss on the mound for the Bears. Josselyn (0-1) gave up seven runs (six earned) on seven hits and two walks over 5 1/3 innings. He also fanned five.

Briana finished 3-for-4 with a run and two RBI in the opener.

Game Two

In game two, the Vikings opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning on Kyle O'Connor's (Lynn, Mass.) RBI single.

The Bears answered after loading the bases in the top of the second inning. Walks to Patrick Cashin (Franklin, Mass.) and Liam Bell (Wells, Maine) forced in a pair of runs and put Bridgewater State ahead 2-1.

In the bottom of the second, Shawn Rebello's (Bellingham, Mass.) fielder's choice grounder with the bases full scored one run before Briana's single to left field drove in two more as the Vikings reclaimed a 4-2 lead.

The Bears pushed across four runs in the top of the fifth to jump back on top. Bell led off the inning with a double to left field and Kevin Bresciani (Hopedale, Mass.) knocked him in with an RBI single to close the gap to 4-3. Jonathan Livolsi (Bridgewater, Mass.) followed with a base hit and Bresciani would come around to score on Dominic Precopio's (Framingham, Mass.) RBI single to knot the score at 4-4. Lewis Robinson (New Britain, Conn.) reached on an error to plate Livolsi with the go-ahead run, and Alexander Pappas (Lakeville, Mass.) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in Precopio and give the Bears a 6-4 lead.

Robinson's two-out, RBI single in the top of the sixth increased the Bridgewater State lead to 7-4. Marquez answered with a solo home run in the home half of the sixth to cut the Vikings' deficit to 7-5.

Salem State then rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh to force extra-innings. A walk to Fitzgerald and single by Briana put two runners on with nobody out. BSU reliever Shawn Smeglin (Wakefield, Mass.) retired the next two batters, but Brendan Greene (Winchester, Mass.) belted a two-out double to score both runners, tying the game at 7-7.

In the top of the eighth, Bell led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a ground out. McDonald then delivered the game-winning hit with a triple to the gap in right-centerfield.

David Kerns (Cambridge, Mass.) worked around a hit and a walk in the bottom of the eighth to record his first collegiate save. Smeglin (3-1) picked up the win, his third of the season, with three innings of relief work. Smeglin allowed three runs on five hits with walk and three strikeouts.

Brian Smith (Croton-on-Hudson, NY) pitched 2 1/3 innings, allowing a run on two hits and two walks with a strikeout in the loss for the Vikings.

Starters Luke Brennan (Worcester, Mass.) and Greg Cavaioli (Leominster, Mass.) each lasted four innings with Brennan being charged with five runs (three earned) on four hits and Cavaioli four runs (three earned) on five hits. Brennan walked three and struck out six, while Cavaioli walked three and fanned three. The teams combined to use seven pitchers.

Bell doubled and drew a pair of walks in five plate appearances to highlight the BSU offense. Bell, who extended his hitting streak to nine games,  also scored two runs and drove in one.

In upcoming action, the Bears host MASCAC rival Mass. Maritime Academy on Wednesday afternoon at 3:30.