Baseball Splits Non-Conference Twinbill with Westfield State

WESTFIELD, Mass. – The visiting Bridgewater State University baseball team split a non-conference doubleheader with Westfield State University on Friday afternoon at Bud and Jim Hagan Field.

The host Owls (16-4) won the opener, 4-2, while the Bears (9-14) earned the split with a 10-2 victory in game two. Three of Westfield's four losses this season have come against Bridgewater.

Game One

Shane Bogli (Vernon, Conn.) worked efficiently through the opener, scattering eight hits through five innings and striking out seven to earn the win. Bogli (4-0) departed with a 3-2 lead.

Troy Saulnier (Waltham, Mass.) worked a scoreless sixth inning and Trevor Edwards (Amherst, Mass.) closed it out for his seventh save of the season.

Ethan Day (Meriden, Conn.) put the Owls on top with a two-run single in the second inning, and Sean Moorhouse (Westfield, Mass.) gave the Owls an insurance run with an RBI single in the fifth.

BSU starter David Kerns (East Cambridge, Mass.) took the loss on the mound for Bridgewater. Kerns (1-4) gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits over four innings with a walk and six strikeouts.

Luke Tamulevich (Whitman, Mass.), Jay Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.) and Joey Molis (Cumberland, Mass.) rapped two hits apiece to pace the Bridgewater offense.

The Bears pushed across their only two runs of the game in the top of the fifth inning. With one out, back-to-back singles by Tamulevich and Wladkowski put runners at the corners. Molis plated Tamulevich with a base hit to right, and Colin Josselyn (Hanson, Mass.) followed with an RBI single to score Wladkowski. Bogli, however, induced a pair of fielder's choice ground outs to avoid any further damage.

Wladkowski doubled with one out in the seventh, but was stranded at second. Bridgewater left eight runners on base in the contest including runners in scoring position in the first, second, fifth and seventh innings.

Game Two

In the nightcap, Owls starter Patrick Jordan (Reading, Mass.) worked his way through four no-hit innings before things unraveled in the fifth inning.

The Bears jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second. Cam James (Ipswich, Mass.) was hit by a pitch, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch.

The Owls answered with a pair of runs in the home half of the second to take a 2-1 lead. Westfield sent eight batters to the plate in the frame, but BSU starter Colin Josselyn minimized the damage. Day drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly and Moorhouse added an RBI single.

Bridgewater plated five runs in the top of the fifth, aided by three walks and a pair of passed balls.  James drove in a pair of runs with a single through the left side, and Dan Saraceno (Mansfield, Mass.) drove in another with an RBI double. The Bears sent nine batters to the plate in the inning.

The Bears tacked on four more runs in the sixth to put the game out of reach.  Patrick Cashin (Franklin, Mass.) rapped an RBI double, and Jay Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.) ripped a two-run double in the right field gap. James capped off the scoring with an RBI single.

Josselyn did not factor in the decision as he gave up two runs on two hits with three walks and a pair of strikeouts over the first three innings.

BSU reliever Ethan Grade (South Windsor, Conn.) worked two scoreless innings to earn the win in relief. Grade (2-2) allowed just one hit, walked two and fanned three. Tyler Dasilva-Medeiros (Taunton, Mass.) tossed a pair of scoreless innings giving up a hit and walk to close out the game. Dasilva-Medeiros struck out five of the eight batters he faced.

James went 2-for-3 with a stolen base, two runs and three RBI to pace the BSU offense in game two. Joe Frechette (Plymouth, Mass.) went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, two stolen bases and two runs scored, while Cashin was 1-for-2 at the plate with a double, walk, stolen base, run and RBI.

Bridgewater finished with seven hits, six walks and a hit by pitch in game two. The Bears also stole six bases and stranded just four runners on base. The ten runs marked a season-high for BSU.

Westfield left 13 runners on base including runners in scoring position on the second, third, fourth and fifth innings.

Up Next: The two teams meet up again on Saturday in Bridgewater with game one of the doubleheader getting underway at 1:00 PM.