Josselyn, James Lead Baseball to Doubleheader Split with Eastern Nazarene

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University baseball team split a non-conference doubleheader with Eastern Nazarene College on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Park. The games marked the first played at the Bears' home ballpark since May 4, 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The visiting Lions (3-4) won game one of the twinbill, 13-4, while the host Bears earned the split with a 3-1 victory in the nightcap.

Game Two

After dropping the opener, 13-4, the Bears bounced back with a 3-1 victory in the nightcap led by the solid pitching of righthander Colin Josselyn (Hanson, Mass.). Josselyn went the distance allowing just one unearned run on two hits. He walked four and fanned six en route to his first collegiate win.

The Lions opened the scoring in game two with an unearned run in the top of the fourth inning. Mike Griffin (Hudson, Mass.) reached on an error, stole second and came around to score on Joshua Bombard's (Rutland, Mass.) RBI single.

The Bears responded with a two-out rally in the home half of the fourth. After the first two batters of the frame were retired, Dan Saraceno (Mansfield, Mass.) rapped a base hit to left and rookie Cam James (Ipswich, Mass.) followed with a two-run blast over the left field fence to give the hosts a 2-1 lead. The home run marked the first of James' collegiate career.

Bridgewater State tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth to extend the lead to 3-1. Joe Frechette (Plymouth, Mass.) led off the frame with his first college hit, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third when Michael Catanoso (Marshfield, Mass.) reached on an error. Luke Tamulevich (Whitman, Mass.) then followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Frechette with the Bears' third run of the game.

Jamie Carey (Amherst, Mass.) suffered the loss on the mound for Eastern Nazarene in game two. Carey (0-2) gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits. He did not issue a walk and struck out five.

Game One

Lefty starter Francis Ferguson (Jefferson, Mass.) tossed seven solid innings to record his first win of the season for the Lions in the opener. Ferguson (1-1) gave up two runs on five hits with three walks and ten strikeouts (five looking).

After a scoreless first three innings, ENC took advantage of a dropped fly ball to push across a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 2-0 lead.

The Lions batted around and strung together five hits in a six-run fifth inning. Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.) and Hunter Leroux-Porter (Greenland, N.H.) had RBI hits in the frame, while Jaime Roldan (Boston, Mass.) added an RBI ground out, Carey a sacrifice fly and two runs scored on wild pitches.

Back-to-back doubles by Griffin and Roldan in the sixth made it a 9-0 game.

The Bears broke up the shutout bid with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by Tyler Rondeau (Bourne, Mass.) and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Joey Molis (Cumberland, R.I.).

The Lions answered with three runs (two unearned) in the top of the eight to extend the lead to 12-2. A Griffin sacrifice fly was sandwiched between an RBI single by Leroux-Porter and a run-scoring double off the bat of Roldan.

Jonathan O'Donnell (Hull, Mass.) raced home on Kyle Suraci's (Clinton, CT) sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eight to cut the BSU deficit to 12-3. The two teams would exchange runs in the ninth to cap off the scoring. The Lions scored on a wild pitch, while the Bears pushed across a run on an RBI groundout.

Eastern Nazarene banged out 16 hits in game one, including eight doubles, led by three hits apiece from Ferguson (3-for-6, 2R), Griffin (3-for-5, 3R, RBI), Roldan (3-for-5, R, 3RBI) and Brandon Guerrero (Boston, Mass.). Guerrero went 3-for-4 with a walk, run and RBI. Ferguson, Griffin, Roldan and Pesce each had two doubles. 

Rondeau paced the Bridgewater State offense in the opener as he went 2-for-4 with a triple, run and RBI.

Four BSU pitchers were touched up for 13 runs on 16 hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. Four of the 13 runs were unearned as the Bears committed four errors in the opener.

Up Next: The Bears are back in action next Saturday (Mar. 27) when they open Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference play on road at Worcester State University. Game one of the MASCAC doubleheader gets underway at noon. The Lions take on Gordon College in a non-conference twinbill on Wednesday afternoon starting at three.

Notes: Frechette, James, Suraci and Kevin Lindsay (East Bridgewater, Mass.) each recorded their first collegiate hits during the doubleheader.

(Photos courtesy of Tara Nelson)