Baseball Sweeps Westfield State in MASCAC Twinbill

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University baseball team rebounded from its first loss in more than four weeks by sweeping a doubleheader.

After having a 16-game winning streak stopped by Westfield State University Friday, the Bears took a pair of games from the Owls Saturday afternoon.

BSU celebrated Senior Day by defeating Westfield State, 3-2 and 17-4, at Alumni Park. The Bears improved to 23-6 and 17-2 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference.

BSU used a three-run fifth inning to get past the Owls (13-22, 10-10 MASCAC) in the opener and scored five times in the first and sixth innings of the second game.

Game One: Bridgewater State 3, Westfield State 2

The Bears, who were edged, 2-1, in Westfield the day before, fell behind the Owls, 2-0, in the opener of the twinbill.

BSU moved in front for good in the fifth inning, and two pitchers combined to limit Westfield State to four hits.

The Owls took a 1-0 lead in the first when senior Sam Palmer (Medfield, Mass.) doubled down the right-field line, scoring senior Alex Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.), who had walked.

The Bears fell behind, 2-0, in the fourth when sophomore TJ May (Granby, Conn.) walked and pinch runner Jeremiah Bobbi (Lebanon, Conn.), a sophomore, went to third on a sacrifice.

Following a walk to sophomore Kaen Smith (Washingtonville, N.Y.), a fielder's choice and error brought in Bobbi.

BSU got its offense going in the fifth to take the lead.

Sophomore Jayden Espinal (Fall River, Mass.) singled up the middle, junior Rylan Secovich (Southwick, Mass.) bunted for a hit and sophomore Cam Beltramini (Hanson, Mass.) singled to left  to load the bases.

A fielder's choice by senior Ryan Flaherty (Duxbury, Mass.) scored the first run and senior Joshua Selander (Granby, Conn.) doubled down the line in left for two runs.

Senior Trey Yesu (Monson, Mass.) is now 3-3 after picking up the win, allowing two runs and three hits with six strikeouts in six innings.

Senior CJ Hess (Providence, R.I.) earned his second save with a scoreless seventh inning.

Sophomore Andre Phaneuf (Westfield, Mass.) took the loss, striking out six and giving up three runs and six hits in five innings.

Secovich went 3-for-3 for BSU, which outhit the Owls, 6-4.

Game Two: Bridgewater State 17, Westfield State 4

BSU had nine hits and drew nine walks from the Owls, who used seven pitchers.

The Bears took control in their first trip to the plate, getting five runs on just a pair of hits.

Secovich, Beltramini, Flaherty and Selander drew consecutive walks to open the inning for a 1-0 lead.

Junior Benjamin Sepeck (Whitman, Mass.) made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to left and a single through the left side by senior DJ Prampin (Worcester, Mass.) scored another run.

Freshman Nick Berube (Swampscott, Mass.) had a run-scoring double and sophomore Jamie Luna (Warwick, R.I.) added the final run with a sacrifice fly to center.

The lead went to 7-0 in the third on a two-run single through the right side by Luna after Selander reached on an infield hit, Prampin walked and they advanced on a groundout.

Westfield State scored a run in the fourth on an RBI double to right-center by senior Chase Racine (Pittsfield, Mass.) following a Palmer single.

BSU, which is now 11-1 in home games, went ahead, 9-1, in the bottom of the fourth.

Secovich, Beltramini and Flaherty were all hit by pitches with Secovich scoring on a passed ball. A sacrifice fly to center by Sepeck scored the second run of the inning.

The lead jumped to 12-1 in the fifth inning as Secovich and Selander had RBI singles and Secovich scored on an error after stealing third base.

Westfield State scored three times in the sixth, one coming home on a wild pitch while senior Tyler Pegram (Fountain, N.C.) had a sacrifice fly and senior Colin Ryan (Chelmsford, Mass.) had a run-scoring single.

The Bears finished the scoring in the bottom of the inning with five runs.

Luna made it 13-4 with an RBI single to right and a fielder's choice by Secovich scored another run. Luna scored on a wild pitch before Selander's two-run single to left-center.

Selander was 3-for-4 with four RBI and Luna was 2-for-4 and drove in four runs.

Sophomore Chase Beach (Orleans, Mass.) was the winning pitcher, allowing a run and three hits with six strikeouts in five innings.

Prior to the doubleheader, BSU honored the members of its senior class, including Prampin, Flaherty, Yesu, Hess, Selander, Riley Thornell (Wareham, Mass.), Danny Jasmin (East Meadow, N.Y.), Blake Samuelson (Millbury, Mass.) and Matt Kustigian (Charlton, Mass.).

BSU will be on the road Tuesday for a doubleheader against Worcester State starting at 2 p.m.

Westfield State hosts the Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.

Notes: Secovich stole five bases in the doubleheader to bring his season total to 34. He is three steals shy of Jason Arraiol's single-season program record of 37 set in 2003.