Hargreaves Tosses No-Hitter as Softball Sweeps Senior Day Twinbill

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University softball team concluded the regular season in style Saturday afternoon.

The Bears swept a doubleheader from Anna Maria College with junior Olivia Hargreaves (Weare, N.H.) pitching a no-hitter in the second game.

On Senior Day, BSU won the opener, 9-4, after scoring five times in the first inning.

Hargreaves allowed only four baserunners for the Bears' second no-hitter of the season in the nightcap, a 5-0 BSU victory over the AMCATS at Alumni Park.

The Bears (17-20) finish 8-8 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference.

BSU, which opens the conference tournament Tuesday, will be the No. 5 seed and play at fourth-seeded Framingham State University. Game time is slated for 4:00 PM.

Game Two: Bridgewater State 5, Anna Maria 0

Hargreaves (4-8) allowed multiple runners in just one inning and retired the side in order in the second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

The last 10 batters Hargreaves faced did not reach base, and she ended the no-hitter with a strikeout.

Hargreaves walked the first batter she faced in the first, and a walk and two errors in the fourth allowed the AMCATS to load the bases.

Hargreaves, who had seven strikeouts and two walks, joins junior Lily Gioiosa (Dartmouth, Mass.) with a no-hitter for BSU this season.

Gioiosa defeated Lycoming, 7-0 with a no-hitter in Little River, S.C., on March 10.

BSU had six hits -- three for extra bases and three singles -- and scored two unearned runs off junior Mackenzie Evers (Oxford, Mass.), who is 6-10. The AMCATS committed four errors after making four in the opener.

The Bears took a 2-0 lead in the third with a throwing error and wild pitch bringing in the two runs.

BSU scored a run in the fourth on an RBI double to left by senior Victoria Becker (Abington, Mass.) and another run in the fifth when junior Sydney Schaefer (Swarthmore, Pa.) hit her first homer of the season to left.

A dropped flyball hit by freshman Trinity Andelin (Wilmette, Ill.) allowed her to score in the sixth inning.

Following the second game, BSU honored its senior class, including Angelina Lynch (Taunton, Mass.), Becker, Emily Eastman (Cranston, R.I.), Makayla Ansell (Menifee, Calif.), Olyvia Mendonca (Taunton, Mass.) and Ella Staffier (Marshfield, Mass.).

Game One: Bridgewater State 9, Anna Maria 4

Mendonca was the winning pitcher in her final home game, improving to 6-3 as she allowed four runs and six hits with three strikeouts in four innings.

Junior Lily Gagnon (East Haven, Conn.) recorded her first save, striking out four.

Becker was 2-for-3 with three RBI while Ansell and Mendonca had two hits each.

Anna Maria (14-22, 3-13 MASCAC) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first when sophomore Meaghan Doyle (Hardwick, Mass.) hit a two-run homer to left after a two-out single by sophomore Mae McGowan (Leicester, Mass.).

But the Bears struck right back for a 5-2 lead in the first.

A fielder's choice with the bases loaded by sophomore Aubrey Carberry (Dartmouth, Mass.) scored the first run.

Mendonca had an RBI single, Becker drove in a pair with a single up the middle and a groundout by Eastman brought in a run.

Anna Maria scored once in the second on an RBI single to left-center by sophomore Makenna Lovelette (Enosburg Falls, Vt.).

The Bears took a 6-3 lead in the third on a run-scoring fielder's choice by Becker.

The AMCATS moved within 6-4 in the fourth as Angela Marie Gilmartin (Hawthorne, N.J.) doubled and scored on a single by senior Madison Levesque (Feeding Hills, Mass.).

BSU scored twice in the bottom of the inning for an 8-4 edge.

Schaefer walked and Ansell singled before Carberry drove in a run with a single up the middle. Ansell scored when the Bears executed a double steal.

The last run was scored in the fifth as Becker bunted for a hit, stole second, went to third on a flyout and scored on a groundout by Gagnon.