Baseball Cruises to 19-0 Win Over Penn State Brandywine

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- Travis Ritchie (Taunton, Mass.) went 5-for-6 to lead a 24-hit attack, and Nicholas Ciuffo (South Easton, Mass.) hurled 8 1/3 shutout innings, as the Bridgewater State University baseball team cruised to a 19-0 victory over Penn State Brandywine on Tuesday afternoon in Vero Beach.

The win marked the Bears first of the 2015 campaign as they improve to 1-4.  The Lions slip to 2-3 on the young season.

Ritchie, who tripled, scored four runs and drove in one, was one of eight BSU batsmen who recorded multiple hits. He also walked as he reached safely six times in seven plate appearances.

The Bears broke open a 1-0 game with an 11-run fifth inning.

In his first start of the season, Ciuffo (1-0) scattered four hits, walked three and struck out six. Shane Surette (Haverhill, Mass.) fanned the only two batters he faced to close out the win.

The Bears sent 16 batters to the plate during the explosive fifth inning.

Keaghan Austin-MacInnis (Lakeville, Mass.) went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, a walk, three runs and four RBI, while Jacob Souza (Acushnet, Mass.) singled three times, walked, scored two runs and stole a base in five plate appearances.

Anthony Deleo (Athol, Mass.) and Sean Brooks (Braintree, Mass.) also had multiple hits in the starting lineup for the Bears. Deleo went 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Brooks finished 2-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base, two runs and three RBI.

Kevin Sugermeyer (Hampden, Mass.) and Paul Manning (Plainville, Mass.) both went 2-for-2 off the bench.  Sugermeyer drove in a run, while Manning tallied a run and an RBI. 

Pat O'Neill (Morton, Pa.) struck out six in 4 1/3 innings on the mound, but received the loss after surrendering six runs (four earned). O'Neill (0-1) gave up six hits and walked seven.

The Bears are back in action on Wednesday afternoon at one when they take on Westminster College at Lawnwood Park in Fort Pierce, Florida.