Josselyn Leads Baseball to MASCAC Spit With Fitchburg State

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University baseball team split a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) doubleheader with visiting Fitchburg State University on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Park. The Bears (24-8, 10-3 MASCAC) won the opener, 2-1, while the Falcons (14-14, 5-8 MASCAC) earned the split with a 2-0 shutout victory in game two.

Bridgewater captured two of three games in the MASCAC series as the two teams met on Friday at Fitchburg with the Bears taking game one of the set, 7-4. Bridgewater is now 70-31 versus Fitchburg since 1978.

Game One: Bridgewater State 2, Fitchburg State 1

Matt Josselyn notched his NCAA Division III leading seventh complete game of the season and became the Bears' all-time leader in innings pitched as Bridgewater State posted the 2-1 win in game one. Josselyn (6-2) allowed just one run on six hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. With the seven innings pitched, Josselyn increased his career total to 222 1/3 innings as he surpassed the previous school mark of 219 innings set by Tim Hart in 2003.

Josselyn also became just the third pitcher in program history to break the 200-strikeout barrier joining BSU Hall of Famer Kevin Cadres (257) and Josh White (203). He now has 203 strikeouts in his career.

The Bears broke a scoreless tie with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Mathew Pigeon reached on a bunt single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a Scott Emerson RBI single. Emerson then stole second, moved to third on a flyout and trotted home an RBI double by Cam James.

The score remained 2-0 until the top of the seventh inning when the Falcons rallied. Jacob Hurrell tripled with one out and scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 2-1. Fitchburg had runners on second with one out, but Josselyn ended the game with back-to-back strikeouts.

Emerson was the only Bears with multiple hits in game one as he went 2-for-3 with a stolen base, run and RBI.

Adam Wholley pitched well in the setback for Fitchburg State. Wholley (2-3) gave up two runs on six hits over six innings with a walk and a strikeout.

Hurrell went 3-for-3 with a triple, a stolen base and a run to pace the Falcon offense. Matthew Smith also recorded multiple hits for Fitchburg in game one as he singled twice in three at bats.

Game Two: Fitchburg State 2, Bridgewater State 0

Three Fitchburg State pitchers combined on the four-hit shutout to lead the Falcons to the 2-0 win in game two and a split of the doubleheader.

Sacrifice flies by Matt Kelly in the second inning and Hurrell in the sixth accounted for the only scoring in the game.

Joshua Hartnett tossed five scoreless innings to earn the win for the Falcons. Hartnett (3-0) allowed just two hits, walked three and fanned ten. Sy Sullivan worked a scoreless eighth inning surrendering a hit and striking out one. Lowell Pare notched his second save of the season despite loading the bases with one out in the ninth on a hit, an error and a walk. Pare induced a game-ending double play ground out to get out of the jam.

David Kerns went the distance on the mound for the Bears in the setback. Kerns (2-2) allowed two runs on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

Up Next: The MASCAC schedule continues for both teams on Tuesday afternoon. The Bears travel to Massachusetts Maritime Academy for a four o'clock doubleheader with the Buccaneers, while the Falcons host a pair of games with Worcester State University starting at two.