Baseball Drops Pair of Games to Open 2020 Campaign

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- The Bridgewater State University baseball team opened the 2020 season with a pair of setbacks at the Snowbird Baseball Classic in Port Charlotte, Florida.

Game One: Marietta 8, Bridgewater State 4

The Bridgewater State University baseball team opened the 2020 season with an 8-4 loss to nationally ranked Marietta College on Sunday afternoon at the Snowbird Baseball Classic in Port Charlotte, Florida.

The Pioneers, who are ranked 24th in the most recent D3baseball.com Poll, improve to 4-0 on the young season.

Marietta got on the board with an unearned run in the top of the first inning. Damian Yenzi (Pittsburgh, Pa.) led off the game with a double and Drew Holderbach (Fairfield, Ohio) followed with a bunt single to third. Yenzi came around to score and Holderbach advanced to second on a throwing error by the third baseman. After a walk, BSU starter David Kerns (East Cambridge, Mass.) avoided any further damage by getting a big strikeout and inducing an inning-ending double play.

The Pioneers threatened again in the second as Seamus Kenneally (Lebanon, Ohio) led off the frame with a double, but Kerns retired the next three batters on back-to-back strikeouts and a pop-up to second.

Bridgewater jumped ahead 3-1 in the bottom of the second on Liam Bell's (Wells, Maine) two-out, bases clearing three-run double. The Bears loaded the bases as Dan Saraceno (Mansfield, Mass.) was hit by a pitch in his first collegiate at bat, Colin Josselyn (Hanson, Mass.) singled through the right side and Alexander Pappas (Lakeville, Mass.) was hit by a pitch. Bell then rapped a liner that got past the diving centerfield allowing all three baserunners to come around to score.

Marietta rallied in the top of the third after the first two batters of the inning were retired. Back-to-back singles by Alex Page (Monroe, Ohio) and Logan Vietmeier (Pittsburg, Pa.) as well as a BSU throwing error put runners on second and third. Drew Wilkinson (Medina, Ohio) followed with an RBI single to plate Page and cut the deficit to 3-2. Kerns recorded another key strikeout to avoid any further damage.

The score remained 3-2 until the top of the fifth. Base hits by Yenzi and Holderbach and an errant pick-off throw put runners on second and third with nobody out. After Kerns fanned the next two batters, Wilkinson reached on an infield single to short to plate Yenzi with the tying run. Kenneally followed with an RBI single to score Holderbach from third and give the Pioneers a 4-3 lead. Matt Josselyn (Hanson, Mass.) came on in relief of Kerns and stranded to inherited runners with a fielder's choice groundout.

The Bears tied it at 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth as Lewis Robinson (New Britain, Conn.) singled, stole second and scored all the way from second on an errant pick-off throw.

Both teams went down in order in both the seventh and eighth innings.

In the top of the ninth, Marietta loaded the bases with one out as Tate Engle (Beverly, Ohio) and Holderbach sandwiched a pair of singles around a Yenzi intentional walk. Page then rifled a bases clearing triple to the gap in right-centerfield to give the Pioneers a 7-4 lead. Wilkinson followed with an RBI single to extend the lead to 8-4.

Sam Mathews (Fairfield, Ohio) tossed a scoreless ninth as he worked around a leadoff single to secure the victory for the Pioneers.

Dalton Wiggins (Mineral Wells, W. Va.) picked up the win in relief for Marietta as he allowed one unearned run in four innings of work. Wiggins (1-0) gave up just one hit and fanned two. Justin Aviles (Brentwood, N.Y.) tossed the first four innings for the Pioneers allowing three runs on three hits with five strikeouts.

Yenzi (2-4, 2B, BB, 3R), Holderbach (3-5, 2R), Page (2-4, 3B, BB, 2R, 3RBI), Wilkinson (2-5, 2RBI) and Kenneally (2-5, 2B, RBI) all finished with multiple hits for Marietta. The Pioneers banged out 13 hits in the win.

Kerns allowed four runs, only one of which was earned, on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings of work with one walk and seven strikeouts. Josselyn (0-1) suffered the loss in the relief as he gave up four runs on four hits over 4 1/3 innings with a walk and four strikeouts.

Bell went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI to pace the Bears, while Robinson singled twice in four at bats and scored a run.

Game Two: Baldwin Wallace 12, Bridgewater State 9

The Bridgewater State University baseball team dropped a 12-9 decision  to Baldwin Wallace University on Sunday afternoon at the Snowbird Baseball Classic in Port Charlotte, Florida.

The Bears fall to 0-2 on the young season with the setback, while the Yellow Jackets improve to 4-3.

The Bridgewater State offense exploded for six runs in the bottom of the first inning. The first four batters of the frame reached safely with Lewis Robinson (New Britain, Conn.) getting the Bears on the board with an RBI single. Back-to-back RBI ground outs were followed by an RBI single by Jonathan O'Donnell (Hull, Mass.) and an RBI double off the bat of Michael Catanoso (Marshfield, Mass.). Patrick Cashin (Franklin, Mass.) capped off the six-run outburst with a two-run single.

Baldwin Wallace answered with a five-run top of the second. The inning was highlighted by a pair of two-run singles by Alex Ludwick (Brunswick, Ohio) and Luke Vonderhaar (New Bremen, Ohio), while Luke Razzante (Highland Heights, Ohio) added an RBI base hit.

After a scoreless third inning, the Yellow Jackets plated a pair of runs in the top of the fourth on Vonderhaar's RBI groundout and an RBI double by Cameron Jones (Naples, Fla.) to pull ahead 7-6.

The Bears knotted the score at 7-7 in the home half of the fourth. Liam Bell (Wells, Maine) singled to lead off the inning and came all the way around to score on an RBI double off the bat of Luke Tamulevich (Whitman, Mass.).

Jacob Bonner (Akron, Ohio) doubled home Tony LoParo (Avon, Ohio) in the top of the fifth to put Baldwin Wallace back in front. LoParo was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. The Yellow Jackets tacked on four more runs in the seventh as they took advantage of three BSU errors in the frame to extend the lead to 12-7. Vonderhaar, Jones and Bijan Kamalipour (Frisco, Texas) each drove in runs with RBI singles in the inning.

The Bears rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the eight to cut the deficit to 12-9. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Bell singled and came around to score on another Tamulevich RBI double. Tamulevich raced home from second one batter later when Jonathan Livolsi (Bridgewater, Mass.) reached on an error.

Spencer Berg (New Albany, Ohio), who tossed 5 2/3 innings of solid relief, retired the Bears in order in the ninth to secure the win. Berg (1-0) allowed just two runs (one earned) on three hits with a walk and four strikeouts as he picked up his first win of the season.

Bonner (2-5, 2B, BB, 2R, RBI), Ludwick (2-5, BB, R, 2RBI), Vonderhaar (3-6, SB, 2R, 4RBI), Jones (3-5, 2B, R, 2RBI), LoParo (2-5, 2R) and JT Mazula (Pittsburgh, Pa.) all finished with multiple hits for the Yellow Jackets who banged out 17 hits in the contest. Mazula went 2-of-6 and scored a run.

Bell (2-4, BB, 3R), Tamulevich (3-5, 2 2B, 2R, 2RBI) and Robinson (2-5, RBI) each finished with multiple hits to pace the Bears' 11-hit attack.

Three BSU hurlers combined to give up 12 runs (eight earned) on 17 hits over the first seven innings with two walks and eight strikeouts. Guy Quartarone (Foxborough, Mass.) tossed two scoreless and hitless innings of relief for the Bears in his collegiate debut.

The Bears continue their Florida trip on Monday evening at 6:30 when they take on Ohio Wesleyan University at the Snowbird Baseball Classic.