Baseball Sweeps Fitchburg State in MASCAC Twinbill

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University baseball team has moved into a first-place tie in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference.

The Bears swept a doubleheader from Fitchburg State University, 10-3 and 10-7, at Alumni Park on Sunday afternoon.

BSU (12-10) is now 6-3 in the MASCAC, tied with Westfield State University, which split a twinbill with Salem State University. The Bears are closing in on the midway point of the conference schedule.

Despite playing the Falcons at Alumni Park, BSU was the visiting team since the games were moved from Fitchburg due to unplayable field conditions there.

The Bears combined for 21 hits in the doubleheader and have a three-game winning streak going into a road twinbill Monday against the Massachusetts Maritime Academy starting at noon.

BSU broke a 4-4 tie in the nightcap, scoring six times in the top of the seventh inning.

Fitchburg State has dropped eight games in a row and is 6-20, 1-8 in the MASCAC. The Falcons host Worcester State at 2 p.m. on Monday.

Game One: Bridgewater State 10, Fitchburg State 3

DJ Prampin (Worcester, Mass.) and Steven Simon (Hanover, Mass.) hit home runs for the Bears with Mathew Pigeon (Canton, Mass.) going 2-for-3 with three RBI and Simon also going 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI.

Matthew Kelly (East Bridgewater, Mass.), Jacob Hurrell (Haverhill, Mass.) and Luke Sterner (Stafford, Va.) each had two hits for Fitchburg State.

BSU jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first as Simon singled home Kevin Lindsay (East Bridgewater, Mass.), who had singled and advanced on a walk by Ryan Flaherty (Duxbury, Mass.). Simon and Flaherty scored on a two-out single to right by Pigeon.

The lead was extended to 5-0 in the four as Joe Frechette (Plymouth, Mass.) walked and scored on a homer to left by Prampin.

Fitchburg State made it 5-3 in the bottom of the inning, scoring all of its runs.

The Falcons got RBI singles by Cole DuHaime (Warminster, Pa.), Kelly and Jake Santulli (Wolcott, Conn.).

The Bears took a 6-3 lead in the fifth when Simon homered to left with one out.

BSU broke the game open with a four-run sixth inning with Scott Emerson (Peabody, Mass.) and Flaherty bringing in runs with sacrifice flies and Pigeon and Frechette walking with the bases loaded.

Trey Yesu (Monson, Mass.) improved to 3-2, striking out five in six innings.

Game Two: Bridgewater State 10, Fitchburg State 7

Flaherty had a pair of doubles, Lindsay was 2-for-2 and Pigeon and Emerson also had two hits each for the Bears, who had 13 hits.

Nick Reiser (Nahant, Mass.) evened his record at 1-1, striking out five in six innings, scatting six hits.

Maxwell Kelly (East Bridgewater, Mass.) and Adam Koza (Windham, N.H.) were 2-for-3 for Fitchburg State.

BSU took a 3-0 lead in the top of the third, getting RBI doubles from Flaherty and Simon and a sacrifice fly from Jay Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.). Koza made an outstanding running grab on Wladkowski's foul out sacrifice fly but flipped over the bullpen fence which allowed Simon to score all the way from second.

Fitchburg State closed to 3-2 in the bottom of the inning. Maxwell Kelly and Matt Kelly singled and advanced on a balk. A groundout by Jacob Hurrell (Haverhill, Mass.) brought in a run and a single to right-center by Sterner scored the other run.

The teams traded runs in the fourth with Lindsay singling to to drive in Prampin, who had singled and moved to second on a sacrifice by Cam James (Ipswich, Mass.) for the Bears. Koza homered to left in the bottom of the inning.

Fitchburg State pulled even at 4-4 in the sixth on an RBI double to right-center by Koza.

BSU's seventh inning began with an infield hit and stolen base by Emerson with Lindsay singling and stealing second base. Flaherty brought them both home with a double to center for a 6-4 lead.

Wladkowski made it 7-4 with a double to left-center. Pigeon singled and Prampin followed with a two-run double to left.

James singled to right to bring in the final run for a six-run lead.

The Falcons pulled closer in the bottom of the seventh on a three-run double to left-center by Hurrell after Max Kelly, Santulli and Matt Kelly loaded the bases with two outs on two singles and a walk.

Notes: Bridgewater is 74-31 versus Fitchburg since 1978.