Softball Sweeps Fitchburg State in MASCAC Twinbill

FITCHBURG, Mass. – The visiting Bridgewater State University softball team swept a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) doubleheader with Fitchburg State University on Saturday afternoon at

The Bears improve to 17-14 on the season and 8-2 in the MASCAC, while the Falcons fall to 15-16 overall and 4-6 in conference play.

Game One: Bridgewater State 4, Fitchburg State 1

Senior righthander Kelley Reichert (Milford, Mass.) went the distance in the circle to lead the Bears to a 4-1 win in game one. Reichert allowed just one unearned run on four hits with three walks and a season-high nine strikeouts.

Graduate centerfielder Alexandra Ruprecht (Kingston, Mass.) reached safely four times to highlight the BSU offense. Ruprecht went 3-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base, a run and an RBI.

Freshman third baseman Emily Marcotte (North Dighton, Mass.) also recorded multiple hits for the Bears as she singled twice in three trips to the plate, stole a base and scored a run.

Bridgewater opened the scoring in the top of the first inning as junior first baseman Olivia Silva (Somerset, Mass.) walked with one out, stole second, and came around to scored on Ruprecht's RBI single up the middle.

The Falcons pushed across an unearned run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second to knot the score at 1-1.

Ruprecht walked, stole second and scored on an RBI double off the bat of junior designated player Madison Dana (Lynn, Mass.) to reclaim the lead for the Bears in the third.

A pair of sacrifice flies by Silva and Dana in the top of the fifth extended the BSU advantage to 4-1.

Junior righthander Sarah Cahill (Mansfield, Mass.) gave up four runs on eight hits with three walks and five strikeouts in the complete game setback for the Falcons.

Game Two: Bridgewater State 7, Fitchburg State 6

Reichert came on in relief to pick up her MASCAC-leading 11th win of the season. Reichert (11-4) allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits over 5 2/3 innings with a walk and seven strikeouts.

The Bears trailed 5-2 after two innings of play but rallied for four runs in the top of the third to take the lead. Bridgewater capitalized on a pair of Falcon errors in the frame which featured RBI singles by senior shortstop Megan Sharon (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and sophomore left fielder Janet Jolly (Raynham, Mass.), and an RBI squeeze bunt by graduate catcher Madison Synan (Quincy, Mass.).

The Falcons came right back to knot the score at 6-6 in the home half of the third on sophomore left fielder Allison Pogorek's (Millbury, Mass.) RBI single.

The game remained deadlocked until the seventh. Ruprecht walked with one out, advanced to second on a ground out and scored the go-ahead run on freshman second baseman Amelia Blake's (Raynham, Mass.) clutch RBI single up the middle.

Ruprecht walked three times in four plate appearances and scored three runs. Blake finished 3-for-4 at the plate with a run and the game-winning RBI, while Sharon went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI and Dana singled twice in two at bats and drove in a run.

Cahill (9-7) suffered the loss in relief for the Falcons as she gave up just one run on one hit over three innings with a walk and a strikeout.

Both teams are back in action on Tuesday afternoon with MASCAC doubleheaders. The Bears entertain Massachusetts Maritime Academy at three o'clock, while the Falcons travel to Worcester State University to take on the Lancers at five.