Baseball Falls to Briarcliffe, 13-10

VERO BEACH, Fla. – The Bridgewater State University baseball team dropped a 13-10 decision to Briarcliffe College on Sunday morning in Vero Beach, Florida.

The Bears fall to 0-2 with the setback, while the game marked the season-opener for the Bulldogs.

Scott O'Brien (East Bridgewater, Mass.) led BSU's 18-hit attack with a 4-for-4 performance at the plate. O'Brien doubled, walked and scored three runs as he reached safely in all five plate appearances.

Nick White (Bellingham, Mass.) went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI.  White was on base five times as he also walked and was hit by a pitch.

Daniel Farina paced the Bulldogs as he went 4-for-5 with three runs scored while also getting hit by a pitch. Ben Wright added three hits in four at bats with a walk and three RBI.

BSU pitching issued 11 walks, hit four batters and surrendered 13 hits.

Briarcliffe hurlers were touched for 18 hits, walked five batters and hit one.

All told, there were 97 plate appearances in the game, 31 hits, 16 walks, five hit batsmen and 24 runners left on base.

A four-run second inning staked the Bears to the early lead.  Anthony Licciardello (Haverhill, Mass.) tied the game at 1-1 with a sacrifice fly, while run scoring singles by Travis Ritchie (Taunton, Mass.), White and Keaghan Austin-MacInnis (Lakeville, Mass.) put the Bears up 4-1.

After the Bulldogs tied the game with a run in the third and two in the fifth, the Bears answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run single by Sean Brooks (Braintree, Mass.).

Briarcliffe came right back in the top of the sixth inning to take a 7-6 advantage as each of the first four batters of the frame reached safely with three scoring.

The Bears reclaimed the lead in the bottom half of the inning on back-to-back RBI singles by Colin Ryan (Quincy, Mass.) and Licciardello.

The Bulldogs exploded for six runs in the top of the seventh to jump ahead, 13-8.  Gus Mejia capped off the six-run uprising with a bases clearing, three-run double.

Bridgewater rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI double by White and a run scoring ground out, but the rally came up short.

Ryan finished 3-for-5 with a double, a stolen base, three runs scored and an RBI. Ritchie (2-for-5) and Jacob Souza (Acushnet, Mass.) chipped in with two hits apiece. Ritchie was 2-for-5 with a walk, a stolen base, a run and an RBI, while Souza went 2-for-6 with a stolen base and two runs scored.

Michael Janke worked the final three innings to pick up the win in relief for the Bulldogs.  Janke (1-0) allowed two runs on three hits and three walks.

Ryan Colbert (Medford, Mass.) was tagged with the loss for the Bears in relief of starter Ryan Hayward (Lynn, Mass.).  Hayward went five innings giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits and four walks with a pair of strikeouts. Colbert (0-1) gave up seven runs on four hits and three walks in an inning and a third with two strikeouts.

The Florida trip continues for Bridgewater State on Monday afternoon at Lawnwood Park in Fort Pierce.  The Bears take on Saint Scholastica in a twinbill starting at three o'clock.