Baseball Splits Doubleheader with UMass Dartmouth

Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Bridgewater State College and UMass Dartmouth split a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at the UMD Athletic Complex.

UMass (7-5) took game one by the score of 5-4, while the visiting Bears (7-6) came away with the 7-1 victory in game two.

Sophomore right-hander Jim Balboni (Townsend, MA) allowed one unearned run while striking out five in a complete game effort as the Bears earned the split of the twinbill with the 7-1 triumph in the nightcap.  Balboni (3-0) scattered nine hits and walked two as he has won each of his first three starts.

BSC took the lead in the second inning of game two on a run-scoring single by freshman center fielder John Garabedian (Mansfield, MA), and then broke it open with six runs in their next two at-bats, five of which were unearned as a result of three UMD errors. Williams walked with the bases loaded to drive in a run, while Garabedian, freshman catcher Tyler Dennis (Stoughton, MA) and senior first baseman Tom Couet (East Freetown, MA) drove in runs with infield grounders.

Freshman shortstop Ryan Levesque (Northbridge, MA) drove in the Corsairs’ lone run of the game with a single in the bottom of the seventh. Freshman right-hander Mike St. Martin (Worcester, MA), the first of three Corsair pitchers, suffered the loss and fell to 1-1.

In game one, junior designated hitter Zak Talis (Lynnfield, MA) tripled and scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to give UMass the 5-4 walk-off win.

The Corsairs built an early lead, scoring twice in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI double by senior center fielder Jeff Macchi (Franklin, MA) and Talis’ run-scoring single. Freshman third baseman Matt Worden (New Bedford, MA) hit a two-run homer in the second to give the Corsairs a 4-0 lead. Senior shortstop Brian Medairos (Brockton, MA) singled in a run for BSC in the third inning and senior designated hitter Matt Greenberg (Norwell, MA) homered in the fourth.

Bridgewater State tied the game in the sixth on back-to-back homers by Greenberg and junior left fielder Ian Williams (Taunton, MA). Junior right-hander Brian Pedrotti (Dalton, MA) relieved freshman starter Karney Boff (Dighton, MA), retired the side in the sixth and pitched a scoreless seventh inning to earn the win, improving to 1-1.

Junior right-hander Brian Guillotte (New Bedford, MA) went the distance for the Bears in the opener.  Guillotte (1-1) gave up seven hits, walked three and struck out three.  He also hit a batter.

Greenberg went 3-for-5 in the doubleheader as he reached safely in five of seven plate appearances.  In addition to his multi-home run performance in the opener, Greenberg also doubled, walked twice and scored three runs in the doubleheader.