Baseball Drops Pair of MASCAC Games to Westfield State

WESTFIELD, Mass. -- Westfield State swept a MASCAC baseball doubleheader from Bridgewater State on Saturday with a 4-3 comeback win in the opener and a 5-1 victory in the game two.

Baseball Drops Pair of MASCAC Games to Westfield State
April 10, 2016
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WESTFIELD, Mass. -- Westfield State swept a MASCAC baseball doubleheader from Bridgewater State on Saturday with a 4-3 comeback win in the opener and a 5-1 victory in the game two.

In the opener, Westfield State's Tyler Adams (West Barnstable, Mass.) cracked a solo home run in the bottom the sixth inning to tie the game at 2-2.  Adams blast to left field landed on the top of the fence and bounced straight up before falling over for the home run.

Bridgewater again took the lead, 3-2, in the top of the eighth inning pushing across a single run after a pair of singles and an error, with Brandon Hoyle (Bridgewater, Mass.)  scoring on Anthony Liccardello's (Haverhill, Mass.) ground out.

Westfield earned the walk off win in the bottom of the eight as Connor Sheridan (South Hadley, Mass.) singled to lead off the inning.  Bridgewater relieved starter Connor Birch (Bellingham, Mass.) with Thomas Protentis (Lakeville, Mass.).  Sheridan advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a groundout, then pinch hitter Steven Brown (Harwich, Mass.) delivered an RBI single to tie the game 3-3 on a bloop hit up the middle, just over the drawn in infield.

Dan McCormack (Shelton, Conn.) followed with a walk and, one out later, Danny Dimatteo (Dennis, Mass.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Aaron Clancy (Quincy, Mass.) drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch to drive in the winning run for Westfield.

Reliever Tyler Tongue (Hampden, Mass.) earned the win for the Owls. Westfield starter Nate Barnes (Westfield, Mass.) tossed six innings of six-hit baseball, allowing just one earned run.

Birch threw seven innings for Bridgewater, yielding five hits and four walks while striking out eight. Keaghan Austin-MacInnis (Lakeville, Mass.) rapped out three hits for the Bears.

In the second game, Westfield erupted for four runs in the first inning with Dimatteo, Barnes and Whigham all delivering RBI singles. Barnes and Whigham each finished 3-3 with an RBI.

The Owls got six strong innings from starter and winner Matt Nunes (Taunton, Mass.),  who allowed four hits and three walks while striking out six.

The lone Bridgewater run was scored in the fifth inning when Hoyle singled to plate Ryan Kelleher (Danvers, Mass.), who had earlier reached on an error.

Starter Kevin Bresciani (Hopedale, Mass.) (0-1) took the loss for the Bears, settling in to work a complete game after a rocky first inning. 

Westfield added an insurance run in the sixth inning on a Morales RBI fielders' choice which plated Whigham.  Owls' closer Pete Liimatainen (West Barnstable, Mass.) worked a scoreless seventh to shut the door.

Travis Ritchie (Taunton, Mass.) went 2-for-3 with a walk to highlight the BSU offense in game two. Ryan Feeney (East Bridgewater, Mass.) singled and walked in four plate appearances in the nightcap. Feeney, however, was held without a hit in the opener as his 17-game hitting streak came to an end.

Westfield improves to 12-10 on the season and 3-1 in the MASCAC.  The Owls will host Coast Guard Academy in a non-conference game on Monday at 3:30 p.m.

Bridgewater drops to 6-13 overall and 0-4 in conference play. The Bears will look to snap a nine-game losing streak on Tuesday afternoon when they host Johnson and Wales University at 3:30.