By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University baseball team registered a season high for runs and hits while winning a sixth straight game Friday afternoon.
The Bears had seven players with at least two hits and scored 12 times in the fourth inning in a 23-3 victory over Framingham State University at Alumni Park.
BSU outhit the Rams, 24-7, and took advantage of five errors by the visitors.
The Bears improved to 12-5 and 6-1 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference while Framingham State fell to 2-12 and 0-6.
The teams meet in a doubleheader Saturday in Framingham starting at 1 p.m.
The 23 runs are the most scored by BSU since getting 34 against the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts on April 2, 2023.
Sophomore Jamie Luna (Warwick, R.I.) went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI for the Bears in a game shortened to seven innings due to the ten-run mercy rule.
Freshman Nick Berube (Swampscott, Mass.) was 3-for-3 while senior DJ Prampin (Worcester, Mass.) was 3-for-6 with a pair of RBI. Prampin's third hit of the day, a single in the bottom of the fifth inning marked the 100th of his career.
Junior Logan Petrosino (Beverly, Mass.) was 3-for-4 and senior Joshua Selander (Granby, Conn.) went 3-for-6.
Senior Ryan Flaherty (Duxbury, Mass.) was 2-for-4 with four RBI and junior Rylan Secovich (Southwick, Mass.) was 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI.
Sophomore Cam Beltramini (Hanson, Mass.) reached safely four times in five plate appearances as he singled, walked and was twice hit by a pitch.
Freshman reliever Ethan Palmer (Attleboro, Mass.) picked up his first collegiate win and is 1-0 after tossing three shutout innings and giving up a hit with two strikeouts.
Senior Trey Yesu (Monson, Mass.) worked the first three innings, allowing three runs with three strikeouts, and freshman Matthew Almeida (Fall River, Mass.) went the final inning.
BSU took a 1-0 lead in the first when a fielder's choice by Flaherty scored Secovich, who had singled and advanced on a walk and a balk.
The edge went to 5-0 in the second as Luna, who had singled, scored on an error on a bunt. Secovich reached on another error for a run and Flaherty brought in two more with a single to right.
Framingham State cut the lead to 5-3 in the third. Sophomore Christian Cox (Shoreham, N.Y.) drove in two with a single to left and sophomore Nicholas Kutcher (West Newbury, Mass.) had an RBI single down the line in left.
BSU got one run back in the bottom of the inning as Berube singled, stole second, went to third on a single by Petrosino and scored on a wild pitch.
The Bears put the game away in the fourth with the 12-run outburst.
Flaherty scored the first run when he singled, went to third on Selander's doubled and came home on an error on the play. Junior Benjamin Sepeck (Whitman, Mass.) added an RBI double.
Prampin singled, Luna was hit by a pitch and Berube made it 9-3 with a single through the left side.
A wild pitch brought home Prampin and Petrosino and Secovich had RBI singles.
After Beltramini was hit by a pitch, Flaherty had a sacrifice fly and Selander reached on an error for a run and a 14-3 lead.
Prampin drove in two more with a double and Luna hit a two-run homer to left, his second of the season, making it 18-3.
The Bears boosted the lead to 22-3 in the fifth with Sepeck bringing in one with a sacrifice fly, Luna driving in two with a double to left and sophomore Jeyden Espinal (Fall River, Mass.) adding an RBI single to center.
The final run came in the sixth as freshman Jackson Libby (Bolton, Mass.) had an RBI single, scoring freshman Dominick Zuliani (Groton, Conn.), who had singled.
Framingham State was led by juniors Scott Paquette (Pelham, N.H.) and Johnny Lynch (Quincy, Mass.), who went 2-for-3.