Baseball Extends Winning Streak to 15 with Doubleheader Sweep of MCLA

By Jim Fenton

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The second-longest winning streak in program history has reached 15 games for the Bridgewater State University baseball team.

The Bears continued to roll on Saturday afternoon, sweeping a doubleheader from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 6-2 and 10-5, at Joe Wolfe Field.

The 15 consecutive wins are second only to a 20-game winning streak put together by the 1992 Bears. BSU had entered the day tied with the 1989 for the second-longest streak at 13 wins in a row.

Senior Joshua Selander (Granby, Conn.) went 4-for-4 and senior Trey Yesu (Monson, Mass.) pitched a six-hitter in the opener. Selander was 6-for-8 on the day.

In the second game, BSU struck for five runs in the top of the first and never trailed.

The Bears received a solo homer from senior DJ Prampin (Worcester, Mass.), the 22nd of his career.

The Bears, who had 16 runs and 24 hits, improved to 20-5 and 14-1 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference. They own a three-game lead over Anna Maria and Worcester State (11-4).

Game One: Bridgewater State 6, MCLA 2

Selander had a season-high four hits, the fourth time in his career he reached that number.

Senior Ryan Flaherty (Duxbury, Mass.) went 3-for-4 with two RBI and junior Benjamin Sepeck (Whitman, Mass.) drove in three runs.

BSU opened a 2-0 lead in the first. After the first two batters were retired, Flaherty and Sepeck singled and Sepeck brought in both with a single to right.

The Trailblazers scored once in the first on back-to-back doubles by senior Joshua Bissaillon (East Greenbush, N.Y.) and freshman Gavin Pettit (Southington, Conn.).

The Bears went up, 3-1, in the third as junior Rylan Secovich (Southwick, Mass.) singled to left, stole second and came home on a Flaherty single to center.

The lead was 4-1 in the fourth as sophomore Jamie Luna (Warwick, R.I.) had a two-out single, went to second on an error and scored on an infield error.

MCLA's second run was in the sixth on an RBI single by Bissaillon.

BSU scored twice in the seventh as Flaherty singled home sophomore Cam Beltramini (Hanson, Mass.), who had doubled, and a fielder's choice eventually brought in Flaherty.

Yesu (2-3) had six strikeouts while picking up the complete-game win.

Freshman Jake Jasminski (Milford, Conn.) went 6 1/3 innings and took the loss for MCLA.

Game Two: Bridgewater State 10, MCLA 5

Prampin went 3-for-4 while Selander, Secovich and Beltramini added two hits each for BSU, which outhit MCLA, 12-9.

The Bears scored in five of the seven innings to defeat the Trailblazers (8-19, 2-13 MASCAC).

They opened a 5-0 lead in the first with Secovich and Beltramini getting into scoring position with a single and double, respectively.

A groundout by Flaherty scored the first run and after a single by Selander, Sepeck had an RBI single through the left side.

Prampin drove in a run with a double and Sepeck scored on a wild pitch.

Freshman Nick Berube (Swampscott, Mass.) drove in the final run with a single up the middle.

MCLA answered with three unearned runs in the bottom of the innings, the first scoring on an error and sophomore Benjamin Jacob (Pittsfield, Mass.) delivering a two-run single to right.

BSU scored a run in the second as Beltramin doubled again, went to third on a flyout and scored on a groundout.

The Bears made it 7-1 in the third as Prampin singled to left, stole second and scored on a single to right-center by sophomore Jeyden Espinal (Fall River, Mass.).

The Trailblazers scored in the bottom of the inning when Jacob was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

The teams swapped runs in the fifth, BSU scoring when Prampin hit his team-leading seventh homer to left field.

Prampin took over sole possession for fifth place on the BSU all-time career list with 22 homers, leaving him one behind Chris Mercadante (23, 1987-88).

MCLA's Brady Sturdivant (Milton, Mass.), a freshman, singled home Jacob, who had doubled with two outs.

BSU finished the scoring in the seventh with Selander getting a two-run single through the right side after Secovich (single) and Beltramini (walk) had reached.

Freshman Logan Cormier (Athol, Mass.) picked up the win with 4 2/3 innings of relief work, improving to 3-0. He struck out eight and gave up a run and six hits.

Senior Blake Samuelson (Millbury, Mass.) pitched the first 2 1/3 innings with two strikeouts. Three of the four runs he allowed were unearned.

BSU returns to Alumni Park on Monday to host Worcester State at noon.

MCLA has a 3 p.m. game on Monday at home against Salem State.

Notes: Beltramini and Sepeck both recorded hits in each game as they extended their hitting streaks to 15 and 13 games, respectively...The Bears stole seven bases in the doubleheader to bring their season total to 83. The Bears entered the day ranked 15th in all of Division III in stolen bases per game.