Softball Swept by Worcester State

By Jim Fenton

WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University softball team dropped two games below .500 after losing a pair of games Monday afternoon.

The Bears were swept by Worcester State University, 6-1 and 4-3, and are now 15-17 overall and 6-6 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference.

In the final two road games of the regular season, BSU was in front, 1-0, in the opener before senior Bella Gasbarro (Leominster, Mass.) hit a grand slam in the fifth inning to put the Lancers in front.

BSU was behind, 4-1, early in the second game before getting a pair of runs in the fourth, but the Bears were unable to add any more the rest of the way.

BSU was limited to 10 hits in the doubleheader while Worcester State (17-13, 9-3 MASCAC) had 21 hits in the games.

The Bears have now lost nine of the last 10 games.

Game One: Worcester State 6, Bridgewater State 1

The Bears held a 1-0 lead before the Lancers struck for four runs on the grand slam by Gasbarro in the fifth. Worcester State added two runs in the sixth.

BSU's lone run came in the top of the first when junior Makayla Ansell (Menifee, Calif.) drew a two-out walk, went to second on a single by sophomore Aubrey Carberry (Dartmouth, Mass.) and scored on a hit by senior Olyvia Mendonca (Taunton, Mass.).

The Bears managed just three hits the rest of the way -- two by junior Sidney Schwartz (Chelmsford, Mass.), including a double, and a single by senior Victoria Becker (Abington, Mass.).

Worcester State had been limited to three hits through four innings before scoring four runs on five hits in the fifth.

Senior Bailey Tammaro (Fitchburg, Mass.) and graduate student Amanda Adamuska (Dudley, Mass.) had bunt singles and senior Emma Lapoint (Westfield, Mass.) walked.

Gasbarro then homered to center field, her third of the season and eighth of her career.

The Lancers added two in the sixth with Lapoint driving in one with an infield hit and a fielder's choice scoring Lapoint later in the inning.

Adamuska, Gasbarro, seniors Carisa Andrews (Medford, Mass.) and Morgan Keefe (Dracut, Mass.) each had two hits for Worcester State.

Junior Peyton Maloney (West Boylston, Mass.) was the winning pitcher, striking out four.

Junior Lily Gagnon (East Haven, Conn.) took the loss and is 4-3 after going 4 1/3 innings and giving up four runs and seven hits. Mendonca pitched the final 1 2/3 innings, surrendering two runs and three hits.

Game Two: Worcester State 4, Bridgewater State 3

For the second time in three games, BSU senior Angelina Lynch (Taunton, Mass.) led off the first inning with a homer.

Lynch's third of the season and the seventh of her career went to left field for a 1-0 lead.

But the Lancers scored twice in both the first and second innings.

Freshman Zoie Stevens (Claremont, N.H.) doubled to left-center with the bases loaded for a pair of runs in the first.

Worcester State again had the bases full in the second as Tammaro doubled, Adamuska singled and Lapoint walked.

With two outs, Keefe and Stevens singled up the middle to drive in runs.

BSU cut the lead to 4-3 in the fourth when Carberry and Mendonca reached on errors and scored when Becker and Schwartz each had a fielder's choice.

Junior Olivia Hargreaves (Weare, N.H.) took the loss for the Bears while junior Taylor Coonan (Grafton, Mass.) scattered five hits and struck out two in the win.

Lynch went 3-for-3 for the Bears.

BSU is idle until Saturday when it will host first-place Westfield State at Alumni Park in a 12:30 p.m. doubleheader.

Worcester State will play a non-conference twinbill against Lasell Wednesday at 4 p.m.