Baseball Sweeps Framingham in MASCAC Twinbill

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Graduate student Matt Josselyn (Hanson, Mass.) and senior David Kerns (East Cambridge, Mass.) tossed a pair of complete game shutouts to lead the Bridgewater State University baseball team to a sweep of visiting Framingham State University in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Park.

The Bears improve to 13-6 on the season and 5-0 in the MASCAC, while the visiting Rams fall to 5-13 overall and 1-4 in conference play. Bridgewater State holds a 61-18 lead in the all-time series which dates back to 1971.

In five MASCAC games this season, the Bears have outscored their opponents, 56-4.

Game One: Bridgewater State 2, Framingham State 0

Josselyn (3-1) tossed a complete game, three-hit shutout to lead the Bears to a 2-0 victory in game one. The righthander did not issue a walk and struck out a career-high 12 batters including the side in both the second and fifth innings.

The game was scoreless heading into the sixth inning. Freshman right fielder Lucas Basile (Upton, Mass.) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, stole second and advanced to third on a ground out. Basile attempted to score on a fly out, but was gunned down at the plate by BSU junior centerfielder Sean Goudey (Weymouth, Mass.).

The Bears provided Josselyn with all the offense he would need in the home half of the sixth. With two outs, sophomore left fielder Joe Frechette (Plymouth, Mass.) worked a walk and then stole second. After sophomore catcher Mathew Pigeon (Canton, Mass.) was hit by a pitch, junior third baseman Joey Molis (Cumberland, R.I.) smacked an RBI single to right field to plate Frechette with the first run of the game. Pigeon would cross the plate when sophomore designated hitter Kyle Suraci (Clinton, Conn.) reached on an error give the hosts a 2-0 lead.

Molis was the only batter in the game to finish with multiple hits as he singled twice in three at bats and knocked in the winning run.

The Bears stole five bases in the game.

Sophomore righty Scott Nosky (Dedham, Mass.) pitched well in the setback for the Rams. Nosky (0-4) allowed two runs (one earned) on just two hits with four walks and six strikeouts.

Game Two: Bridgewater State 12, Framingham State 0

Kerns (4-0) hurled a complete game, four-hit shutout to lead the Bears to a 12-0 triumph in game two and a sweep of the twinbill. The senior righty walked just one and fanned a season-high nine batters.

Bridgewater banged out 13 hits in the contest and scored in each of the first four innings. The Bears also stole nine bases to increase their season total to 59 in just 19 games.

Freshman second baseman Scott Emerson (Peabody, Mass.) went 3-for-4 with three stolen bases, three runs and an RBI to pace the BSU offense. Frechette, sophomore right fielder Jay Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.) and sophomore shortstop Kevin Lindsay (East Bridgewater, Mass.) also finished with multiple hits for the Bears. Frechette was 2-for-2 at the plate with a walk, a stolen base, two runs and an RBI, while Wladkowski went 2-for-3 with a walk, three stolen bases, three runs and two RBI. Lindsay doubled and singled in three at bats with a run and an RBI.

Sophomore Nathan Labonte (Raynham, Mass.) pitched well in relief for Framingham State as he retired six of the seven batters he faced over two scoreless innings with three strikeouts.

The two teams wrap up the three-game set on Sunday morning at 11:00 AM from Framingham's Bowditch Field.