By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University softball team swept a doubleheader Monday afternoon, bringing an end to a seven-game losing streak.
The Bears handed Fitchburg State University a pair of losses, 13-5 and 11-3, in games that were halted in the fifth inning at Alumni Park.
BSU is now 10-12 and 3-3 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Falcons are 4-23 and 2-4 in the conference.
The Bears used a nine-run fourth inning to win the opener while they scored 11 runs in the first four innings in the second game.
Graduate student Janet Jolly (Raynham, Mass.) was 4-for-6 with four RBI on the day while sophomore Makayla Ansell (Menifee, Calif.) was 4-for-7 with five RBI.
Game One: Bridgewater State 13, Fitchburg State 5 (5 Inn.)
The Bears trailed, 2-0, when Fitchburg State opened the scoring in the top of the third.
A pair of BSU errors in the inning allowed the Falcons to get two unearned runs.
The Bears then scored nine times in the fourth inning, six of the runs coming after there were two outs.
Jolly and senior Amelia Blake (Raynham, Mass.) drew walks and sophomore Sidney Schwartz (Chelmsford, Mass.) singled up the middle to load the bases. Freshman Sarah Silvia (East Bridgewater, Mass.) doubled to left-center for two runs to tie the game.
Senior Emily Marcotte (North Dighton, Mass.) reached on an error, scoring the go-ahead run, and stole second.
With two outs, junior Angelina Lynch (Taunton, Mass.) walked to load the bases and Ansell tripled to left-center for a 6-2 lead.
A double by Sydney Schaefer (Swarthmore, Pa.) drove in the next run followed by a Jolly RBI double and an infield error that allowed the ninth run to score.
Fitchburg State cut the deficit to 9-5 in the fifth inning on a two-run single to left by sophomore Jessica Mueller (Fitchburg, Mass.) and an RBI single by freshman Priscilla Dillon (Glennville, Ga.).
But the Bears closed out the game in the bottom of the inning with four runs.
Junior Victoria Becker (Abington, Mass.) singled, went to third on a double by Lynch and scored on a single by Ansell. Schaefer then walked and Jolly, Blake and Schwartz followed with RBI singles.
Senior McKayla Cusack (West Haven, Conn.) was the winning pitcher, improving to 4-5. She allowed four unearned runs and eight hits in five innings as the Bears committed five errors.
Schaefer led the offense with three hits while Ansell (four RBI), Becker, Lynch and Jolly had two hit apiece.
Game Two: Bridgewater State 11, Fitchburg State 3 (5 Inn.)
Sophomore Olivia Hargreaves (Weare, N.H.) is now 4-4 after scattering eight hits and allowing no earned runs while striking out four.
BSU outhit Fitchburg State, 11-8, with Ansell and Jolly getting two each. Jolly had a double and triple while Ansell doubled.
The Falcons took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by Mueller.
But the Bears responded with three in the bottom of the inning.
Schaefer had a two-run single to scorer Becker and Lynch and a groundout by Jolly brought in Ansell.
The Falcons made it 3-2 in the second with an unearned run produced on a single by junior Adria McKenzie (Lowell, Mass.).
BSU scored three more in the second as Becker reached on an error, stole two bases and scored on a double down the right-field line by Ansell.
Schaefer walked and they both scored on a triple to right-center field by Jolly for the 6-2 lead.
The Bears made it 8-2 in the third on a pinch-hit RBI triple down the line in right by freshman Caitlyn Clark (Clifton, Va.) and an RBI infield hit by Lynch.
The lead went to 11-2 in the fourth as Jolly doubled and went to third on an error. He scored on Blake's single. After Silvia reached on an error, Marcotte had a two-run single up the middle.
Freshman Carolyn Brodeur (Ashby, Mass.) finished the scoring for the Falcons with an RBI single to center in the fifth.
McKenzie went 3-for-3 for the Falcons, who play a doubleheader at New England College Thursday at 3 p.m.
BSU is idle until Saturday when it travels to Worcester State for a doubleheader at noon.