Softball Swept by UMass Boston

By Jim Fenton

BOSTON, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University softball team is at the .500 mark after having its losing streak extended to six games Thursday.

The Bears dropped a non-conference doubleheader to the University of Massachusetts Boston, 1-0 and 8-2.

BSU managed just seven hits in the twinbill.

The Bears are now 14-14 after losing three straight doubleheaders. The Beacons, of the Little East Conference, improved to 16-6 overall.

Game One: UMass Boston 1, Bridgewater State 0

The Bears gave up the game's lone run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Both teams managed four hits in the opener.

Senior Lauren Miner (Millbury, Mass.) led the final inning with a double down the line in left and went to third on an infield hit by junior Hayley Krockta (Taunton, Mass.).

Junior Mya Perron (Beverly, Mass.) ended the game with a walk-off sacrifice fly to center field.

Senior Angelina Lynch (Taunton, Mass.) went 2-for-2 for BSU while junior Sydney Schaefer (Swarthmore, Pa.) and senior Olyvia Mendonca (Taunton, Mass.) had singles.

Lynch and Schaefer had back-to-back singles with one out in the third and advanced on a passed ball, but the Bears could not take advantage.

Junior Olivia Hargreaves (Weare, N.H.) fell to 3-5, giving up just four hits and a run with three strikeouts for BSU.

Winning pitcher Izzy Levasseur (Amesbury, Mass.) had four strikeouts and is 4-1.

Game 2: UMass Boston 8, Bridgewater State 2

BSU was limited to a pair of singles by senior Victoria Becker (Abington, Mass.) and a single by junior Savanah Dubois (New Bedford, Mass.).

UMass Boston bolted to a 5-0 lead in the first two innings.

The Beacons scored twice in the first on a two-run single up the middle by Miner.

In the second, sophomore Mary Matthews (Wilsonville, Ore.) had an RBI single to right, freshman Liv Wentworth (Fitchburg, Mass.) brought in a run with a groundout and Miner added a sacrifice fly.

BSU got within 5-2 in the fourth. Mendonca and Becker drew walks and stole a base with Mendonca scoring on an errant throw. A sacrifice fly by Lynch got the second run home.

UMass Boston finished the scoring with a three-run fourth.

Krockta had a run-scoring single and senior Amaya Rodriguez (Indio, Calif.) drove in a pair with a single to left.

Junior Lily Gioiosa (Dartmouth, Mass.) pitched the first two innings for the Bears and took the loss, allowing five runs and four hits.

Junior Lily Gagnon (East Haven, Conn.) went the final four innings, allowing three runs and five hits.

Winning pitcher Lauryn Meade (Hanson, Mass.), a junior, allowed two runs and two hits with senior Lexus McIntosh (Lancaster, N.H.) finishing the final two innings, striking out four.

BSU is on the road again Saturday, playing a pair of games at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts starting at noon.

UMass Boston has a 1 p.m. doubleheader with Eastern Connecticut State Saturday.