Baseball Sweep MCLA in MASCAC Twinbill

By Jim Fenton

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University baseball team rolled to a pair of shutout victories Saturday afternoon, allowing a combined two hits while getting 40 runs and 40 hits.

Trey Yesu (Monson, Mass.) pitched 6 1-3 innings of no-hit baseball before finishing with a two-hitter in the opener, a 22-0 win over the Massachusetts State College of Liberal Arts.

In the second game, Shane Handrahan (Raynham, Mass.) allowed one hit in six innings during an 18-0 victory to complete the doubleheader sweep, extending the Bears' winning streak to six.

Joshua Selander (Granby, Conn.) and Ryan Flaherty (Duxbury, Mass.) hit three home runs each in the twinbill, Selander getting two in the opener and Flaherty hitting a pair in the second game.

Selander was 7-for-8 with eight RBI in the two games while Flaherty was 5-for-11 with eight RBI. Flaherty has taken over the team lead with six homers.

The Bears (20-13) have scored in double figures in six straight games and have at least 10 runs in each of their last 11 victories.

BSU scored in 13 of the 14 innings against MCLA (5-26, 2-14 MASCAC).

The Bears (12-6) are now tied with Westfield State (12-6) in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference standings, percentage points behind first-place Framingham State (11-5).

BSU ends the conference schedule with a three-game series against Westfield State. The Bears are home for Senior Day on Friday at 4 p.m. and play a road doubleheader Saturday at noon.

Game One: Bridgewater State 22, MCLA 0

Yesu had his bid for a no-hitter stopped by Matthew Castillo (Ozone Park, N.Y.) with one out in the bottom of the seventh.

Castillo singled through the right side of the infield, past the diving attempt of second baseman Kyle Suraci (Clinton, Conn.).

George Felix (New York, N.Y.) followed with a single down the left-field line and an infield error loaded the bases with two outs before Yesu retired the final batter on a groundout.

Yesu (4-2, 3.14 ERA) struck out seven and walked three for the Bears' first complete-game performance of the season. He was attempting to throw BSU's first no-hitter since a perfect game by Matt Josselyn on March 5, 2023 against Rivier in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Before the seventh inning, MCLA had a runner on base in the first via a walk, two runners on in the fourth thanks to a walk and hit by pitch and one in the sixth on a walk.

The Bears supplied Yesu with a 23-hit attack, scoring at least 20 runs for the second time in three games. The Bears scored in all seven innings, getting 13 of the runs in the final two frames.

Selander was 4-for-4, scored five runs and drove in four, while Mathew Pigeon (Canton, Mass.) went 4-for-6 with three RBI.

Cam James (Ipswich, Mass.) was 3-for-4 and drove in three runs while Flaherty went 2-for-6 with four RBI, Steven Simon (Hanover, Mass.) was 2-for-2, Scott Emerson (Peabody, Mass.) was 1-for-3 with 2 RBI and DJ Prampin (Worcester, Mass.) went 2-for-5. Suraci added two hits, including a double, and two RBI in a pair of plate appearances off the bench.

BSU took a 1-0 lead in the first when Emerson reached on an error, stole second, went to third on an error and scored on a groundout.

The Bears added two in the second when Selander hit his first homer of the season to right-center, scoring Prampin, who had singled.

The lead went to 4-0 in the third on an RBI single through the ride side by Prampin, who scored Simon after he reached on an infield hit.

BSU made it 7-0 in the fourth on a two-run single by Emerson, scoring Selander and James, then added two runs in the fifth on a two-run single by James after hits by Pigeon and Selander.

The Bears scored five times in the sixth as Pigeon had an RBI single with another run scoring on the throw, Selander hitting his second two-run homer and pinch hitter Suraci doubling to score James, who had walked.

BSU's eight-run seventh began with Pigeon singling in Philip Mesina (Dunkirk, N.Y.), who had doubled. A single through the left side by Prampin brought in Pigeon and RBI singles by James and Suraci followed.

After Lindsay rached on an infield error, Flaherty hit his fourth home run, a three-run shot down the left-field line.

Game Two: Bridgewater State 18, MCLA 0

After being held scoreless in the first, the Bears took a 1-0 lead in the second on a two-out RBI single by Selander, scoring Simon, who had doubled.

BSU added five runs in the third with Pigeon delivering a two-run single to center and Selander hitting his third homer of the day, a three-run shot to right.

The lead went to 8-0 in the fourth on a two-run homer to left-center by Flaherty.

BSU scored four runs in the fifth as James and Emerson had RBI singles and Flaherty hit his second homer of the game and third of the day to left-center for two runs.

The lead was extended to 16-0 in the sixth with four more runs as Joe Frechette (Plymouth, Mass.) had an RBI double to left-center and two unearned runs scored when James' reached on an error. Lindsay contributed an RBI double to left-center.

The scoring for the day ended with two more in the seventh when Frechette doubled down the third-base line.

Handrahan struck out five while improving to 3-1.

The lone hit the Trailblazers managed was a two-out double to right-center by Bobby Lane (Kittery, Maine).

MCLA managed to get a runner to third only once against Handrahan. Nick Reiser (Nahant, Mass.) struck out the side in the seventh inning.

Frechette went 4-for-5 with three RBI in the second game while Lindsay, Flaherty and Selander added three hits.

Lindsay now has a 16-game hitting streak while Emerson has hit in 14 straight games and Pigeon is at 12 straight games.

BSU has a non-conference game at Alumni Park on Wednesday at 4 p.m. against Wentworth before the Westfield State series.

Notes: Lindsay played in his 151st game, tying Brian Desantes (1994-97) for second place on the Bears' all-time list. John Garabedian (2010-13) holds the career record with 160 games played. Garabedian, in fact, never missed a game in his career...Wladkowski moved past Desantes (506) into second place in the Bears' all-time at bats list. Wladkowski has 511 career at bats, second only to BSU Hall of Famer Steve Smith who recorded 555 from 2005 to 2008...The Bears have won at least 20 games for a third straight year, the first time that's happened since they had 18 consecutive 20-win seasons (1989-2006).