Baseball Splits MASCAC Twinbill with Westfield State

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University baseball team split a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) doubleheader with visiting Westfield State University on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Park. Westfield won the first game, 14-1, while Bridgewater earned the split with a 2-0 victory in the nightcap.

The Bears are now 13-18 on the season and 8-9 in the MASCAC, while the Owls see their record go to 21-11 overall and 12-5 in conference play.

Game One

Senior Aaron Clancy (Quincy, Mass.) went 4-for-5 and drove in three runs to pace a 19-hit attack, while senior lefthander John Gegetskas (Windsor, Conn.) tossed a complete game, four-hitter to lead the Owls to the 14-1 victory in game one.

Gegetskas allowed one run on just four hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

Westfield got on the board with a run in the first on freshman Ethan Day's (Meridian, Conn.) RBI single. The Owls tacked on three more runs in the second on a two-double by Clancy and an RBI ground out.

Bridgewater got a run back in the home half of the first as freshman David Skiendiel (Norton, Mass.) reached on an infield hit and advanced to second on a throwing error. Skiendiel moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on classmate Liam Bell's (Wells, Maine) RBI ground out.

Westfield pushed across three unearned runs in the top of the third to take a 7-1 lead as the Owls capitalized on a key BSU error. Senior Colin Dunn (Westfield, Mass.) and Clancy rapped RBI singles in the frame.

Senior Anthony Crowley (Bellingham, Mass.) blasted a solo home run over the centerfield fence in the top of the sixth. The dinger marked  Crowley's team-leading sixth of the season. The Owls plated three more runs in the sixth on an RBI single by Beach and a two-run double by Cruz to extend the advantage to 11-1.

The Owls capped off the scoring with three unearned runs in the seventh as the Owls took advantage of a pair of BSU miscues.

Along with Clancy's four-hit performance, Dunn (3-for-4, 2R, RBI) and Beach (3-for-5, 2R, RBI) added three hits apiece for Westfield, while Crowley (2-for-4, BB, 2R, RBI), Day (2-for-5, RBI) and junior Brett Dooley (Cohasset, Mass.) notched two hits each. Dooley went 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI.

Three BSU pitchers combined to give up 14 runs, only seven of which were earned, on 19 hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Senior Kevin Bresciani (Hopedale, Mass.) singled twice and walked in three plate appearances to lead the Bears' offense.

Game Two

Senior Jarrett Archambault (Seekonk, Mass.) tossed a complete game, three-hit shutout to lead Bridgewater to the 2-0 victory in game two and a split of the twinbill. Archambault (3-2) walked three and fanned eight as he picked up his third win of the season.

The Bears scored a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break up a scoreless game. With one out, sophomore Patrick Cashin (Franklin, Mass.) singled and moved to second when freshman Ruben Gonzalez (Stoughton, Mass.) reached on a key Westfield error. Bresciani followed with an RBI double to deep centerfield to plate Cashin with the go-ahead run. After an intention walk, junior Jonathan Livolsi (Bridgewater, Mass.) knocked in Gonzalez with a sacrifice fly to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.

Archambault, who worked out of a bases loaded, nobody out jam in the top of the sixth, fanned the side in the seventh to secure the win.

Sophomore Shane Bogli (Vernon, Conn.) suffered the loss on the mound for the Owls despite pitching well. Bogli (5-2) gave up just two unearned runs on four hits with a walk and five strikeouts.

Crowley went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk to pace the Westfield offense in game two.

The Bears and the Owls wrap up the three-game MASCAC set on Monday afternoon with a 2:30 single game at Bud and Jim Hagan Field in Westfield.