Baseball Falls to Monmouth to Wrap Up Florida Trip

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University baseball team dropped a 10-7 decision to Monmouth College on Friday in Vero Beach, Florida.

The Bears wrapped up their nine-game trip to Dodgertown with an overall record of 3-6.

Monmouth rallied from a 6-1 deficit after three innings of play. The Fighting Scots plated a run in the fourth on an RBI double by freshman Cameron Kellar (Snohomish, Wash.), and pushed across three runs in the fifth to make it a one-run game, 6-5. In the three-run fifth, Monmouth took full advantage of back-to-back walks and a BSU error to start the inning as all three base runners would come around to score.

The score remained 6-5 in favor of the Bears until the bottom of the eighth when the Fighting Scots sent nine batters to plate and exploded for five runs. The big blow of the inning was a bases loaded triple off the bat of senior Grant Myers (Rock Island, Ill.) which gave Monmouth a 10-6 lead.

Bridgewater took advantage of a pair of two out errors in the top of the ninth to pull to within, 10-7, but the game would end on a pick-off at first base.

The Bears grabbed the early lead with a five-run second inning. Sophomore centerfielder Lewis Robinson (New Britain, Conn.) singled home the first run of the frame, while senior right fielder Ryan Kelleher (Danvers, Mass.) added a two-run single and sophomore DH Sean Casey (Braintree, Mass.) capped it off with a two-run double. After the Fighting Scots got on the board with a run in the bottom of the second, the Bears answered in the top of the third. With one out, senior catcher Drew Gentile (Lynn, Mass.) was hit by a pitch, moved to third on a Dominic Precopio (Framingham, Mass.) base hit and raced home on Robinson's sacrifice fly to make it a 6-1 game.

Junior right-hander Ryan Schulz (Stanford, Ill.) picked up the win in relief for Monmouth. Schulz (2-0) tossed two scoreless innings allowing two hits and a walk with two strikeouts. Junior righty Jake Starkey (Morton, Ill.) gave up just the one unearned run in the ninth to record his fourth save of the season. Junior right-hander Ridge Greenman (Alpha, Ill.) worked the first six innings and was tagged for six runs on 11 hits with three strikeouts.

Kellar went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, two runs and an RBI to pace the Monmouth offense. Myers finished 2-for-5 with a double, triple and three RBI. The Fighting Scots racked up 11 hits to go along with four walks and two hit batsmen.

Freshman right-hander David Kerns (Cambridge, Mass.) allowed one unearned run on three hits in three solid innings for the Bears, but did not factor in the decision. Senior righty Jarrett Archambault (Seekonk, Mass.) came on to pitch the eighth and was tagged with the loss. Sophomore right-hander Jacob Robbins (Middleboro, Mass.) got the start on the mound for Bridgewater State. Robbins gave up four runs (two earned) on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts in four innings of work.

Casey (2-for-5, 2 RBI), Gentile (2-for-3, 2 runs), Precopio (2-for-4), senior second baseman Tyler Morini (Plymouth, Mass.) and senior first baseman Reed Pike (Bellingham, Mass.) each finished with two hits apiece to highlight the BSU offense. Morini went 2-for-5 with a run, while Pike went 2-for-4 with a run. The Bears banged out 13 hits in the contest.

Bridgewater will travel to Brandeis University on Tuesday afternoon for a three o'clock game with the Judges.