Josselyn, Suraci Lead Baseball to 7-4 Win Over Coast Guard

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- The Bridgewater State University baseball team posted a 7-4 victory over Coast Guard Academy in a lightning-delay game on Wednesday night at the Ripken Experience Complex in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

The Bears improve to 3-3 on the season, while Coast Guard falls to 4-2. The start of the game was delayed by roughly a half hour due to lightning and the game was delayed again in the bottom of the third inning.

Graduate righthander Matt Josselyn (Hanson, Mass.) tossed five scoreless innings to pick up the win on the mound for the Bears. Josselyn (1-1) scattered three hits, did not issue a walk and fanned six.

Sophomore third baseman Kyle Suraci (Clinton, Conn.) went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, two runs and three RBI to pace the BSU offense. Junior first baseman Dan Saraceno (Mansfield, Mass.) also registered multiple hits for the Bears as he singled and doubled in four at bats and scored a run.

Bridgewater jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Sophomore catcher Mathew Pigeon (Canton, Mass.) led of the frame with a base hit, moved to second on a ground out and came around to score on Suraci's RBI double. After junior centerfielder Sean Goudey (Weymouth, Mass.) was hit by a pitch, the Bears pulled off a double steal with Suraci racing home and Goudey advancing to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Sophomore shortstop Kevin Lindsay (East Bridgewater, Mass.) then executed a squeeze bunt to plate Goudey with the third run of the inning.

The Bears extended the lead with a four-run fifth inning. Sophomore right fielder Jay Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.) started the rally with a leadoff single, advanced third on Saraceno's double, and crossed the plate on an RBI single off the bat of senior designated hitter Jonathan O'Donnell (Hull, Mass.). Saraceno scored on Pigeon's RBI groundout and Suraci belted his first collegiate home run, a two-run blast over the left field fence, to make it a 7-0 game.

A pair of run scoring singles from sophomore left fielder John Carroll (Yardley, Pa.) and junior catcher Greg Boland (Acworth, Ga.) in the top of the sixth inning cut the Coast Guard deficit to 7-2. Boland, who went 3-for-4 on the day with three RBI, connected for a two-run homer in the top of the eighth to make it a 7-4 game.

BSU junior closer Tyler Dasilva-Medeiros (Taunton, Mass.) worked around a leadoff bunt single in the ninth inning to record his first save of the season.

Three Coast Guard pitchers combined to give up seven runs on ten hits over eight innings with two walks and nine strikeouts.

The Bears wrap up their trip to Myrtle Beach on Thursday morning when they take on Penn State Berks in a doubleheader with game one getting underway at nine.