Softball Splits MASCAC Twinbill with Mass. Maritime

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. – The visiting Bridgewater State University softball team split a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) doubleheader with Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Monday afternoon at Allison Rollins Field in Buzzards Bay.

The Bears (7-22-1, 4-4 MASCAC) won the opener, 10-3, while the host Buccaneers (12-14, 2-6 MASCAC) earned the split with a 7-3 victory in game two. The win for Mass. Maritime marked just the second over Bridgewater State in program history and first since 2003. The Bears own a 46-2 lead in the all-time series with a 20-2 mark on the road.

Game One: Bridgewater State 10, Mass. Maritime 3

Bridgewater State rallied for eight runs in the top of the seventh inning to post the 10-3 win in game one.

Tatiana Burcy (Hyde Park, Mass.) tossed 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn her first win in a BSU uniform. Burcy (1-3) allowed just one hit and walked two.

The Bears jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on an RBI single by Janet Jolly (Raynham, Mass.).

Maritime pushed across three runs in the top of the second inning. Abby Pope (Falmouth, Mass.) plated the tying run with an RBI single, while Reagan Kerecz (Tolland, Conn.) smacked a two-run double to give the Buccaneers a 3-1 lead.

The score remaining that way until the top of the seventh. The Bears loaded the bases with one out on a hit by pitch and back-to-back walks. An RBI single by Emily Marcotte (North Dighton, Mass.) and a wild pitch knotted the score at 3-3. After a pitching change, Kerrin McLaughlin (Haverhill, Mass.) walked to re-load the bases and Jolly cracked a two-run single to left-center to put the visitors on top, 5-3. A wild pitch, a sacrifice fly off the bat of Olivia Silva (Somerset, Mass.) and a two-run pinch hit triple by Ava Novakoski (Auburn, Mass.) accounted for the final three runs of the frame.

Jolly went 3-for-4 with a run and four RBI to pace the BSU offense in game one. McLaughlin singled, walked and score two runs in four trips to the plate.

Madelyn Klingel (Windsor, Conn.) got the start in the circle for the Bears but did not factor in the decision. Klingel allowed three runs on eight hits over 4 1/3 innings with no walks and five strikeouts.

Jennamarie Klemp (Onset, Mass.) suffered the loss for the Buccaneers. Klemp (8-12) gave up six runs on six hits over 6 1/3 innings with three walks and a strikeout. She also hit a batter.

Pope (2-3, R, RBI), Hannah Burton (East Bridgewater, Mass.) and Kelsey Booker (Corning, N.Y.) notched two hits apiece for Maritime.  Burton singled twice in four at bats, while Booker went 2-for-3 with a double, a run and an RBI.

Game Two: Mass. Maritime 7, Bridgewater State 3

Kerezc homered to lead Maritime to the 7-3 win in game two.

Rookie pitcher Erin Donlan (Durham, Conn.) earned the win in the circle for the Buccaneers. Donlan (4-2) allowed three runs on 12 hits over 6 1/3 innings with a walk and a pair of strikeouts.

MMA capitalized on a leadoff error to push across an unearned run in the bottom of the first on an RBI double by Ab'c'de Patane (La Mesa, Calif.).

A two-run single by Burton in the second inning extended the Maritime lead to 3-0. One of the runs was unearned.

Three consecutive two-out singles by Kailey Collins-Fiore (LaGrange, N.Y.), Marcotte and McLaughlin in the top of the third cut the BSU deficit to 3-1.

The Bears pulled to within a run in the fourth. Madison Dana (Lynn, Mass.) singled to lead off the inning and was replaced on the base paths by Klingel. After a sacrifice bunt, Silva and Molly Thibaudeau (Lincoln, R.I.) connected for back-to-back singles to make it a 3-2 game.

The Buccaneers got one back in the bottom of the fifth inning on an RBI double by Donlan.

Kerecz blasted a three-run homer over the left field fence in the sixth to give Maritime a 7-3 lead.

Bridgewater loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh on a pair of singles by Collins-Fiore and Jolly sandwiched around a McLaughlin walk. Collins-Fiore raced home on a sacrifice foul out to left field to account for the final tally of 7-3.

Kerecz (2-4, HR, 2R, 3RBI) and Burton (2-4, 2RBI) recorded multiple hits for the Bucs in game two.

Marcotte (2-4) Jolly (2-4), Dana (2-3, 2B, SF, RBI), Silva (2-3, 2B) and Collins-Fiore (2-2, 2R) notched two hits apiece for the Bears. Bridgewater banged out 13 hits in the nightcap but stranded nine runners on base over the final five innings.

McKayla Cusack (West Haven, Conn.) allowed six runs, only two of which were earned, on nine hits over five-plus innings in the setback for the visitors. Cusack (3-7) walked one and fanned two.

Up Next: The Bears travel to WPI on Tuesday for a three o'clock twinbill with the Engineers. The Buccaneers host Fisher College on Wednesday afternoon with game one of the doubleheader getting underway at four.