Baseball Drops 4-3 MASCAC Decision to Mass. Maritime

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. -- Senior shortstop Zach Sylvia's (Brockton, Mass.) walk-off two-run single in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Massachusetts Maritime Academy baseball team to a dramatic 4-3 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) victory over visiting Bridgewater State University on Monday afternoon at Hendy Field.

The Buccaneers improve to 15-11 on the season and 8-2 in the MASCAC, while the Bears fall to 17-9 overall and 8-2 in conference play.

Maritime jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Sylvia and an RBI double off the bat of sophomore first baseman AJ Pietrafesa (Harwinton, Conn.).

Bridgewater rallied from the two-run deficit with a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth to take a 3-2 lead.

Sophomore right fielder Jay Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.) smacked his first collegiate home run, a solo blast down the left field line in the top of the fifth, to get the Bears on the board.

In the sixth, sophomore centerfielder Shane Foley (East Bridgewater, Mass.) singled with one away, advanced to second on a ground out and scored on sophomore shortstop Kevin Lindsay's (East Bridgewater, Mass.) base hit up the middle. Freshman second baseman Scott Emerson (Peabody, Mass.) followed with an RBI double down the right field line to put the Bears on top, 3-2.

The score stayed that way until the bottom of the ninth when the Buccaneers loaded the bases with nobody out on a walk and back-to-back bunt singles. Sylvia then smacked the game-winning two-run single into centerfield.

Freshman righthander Brenden Baiardi (Harwinton, Conn.) tossed two scoreless innings of relief to pick up his first collegiate win on the mound for Maritime. Baiardi (1-0) retired all six batters he faced with one strikeout. Freshman righty Sam Huffman (Guilford, Conn.) worked the first five innings for the Buccaneers allowing just one run on six hits with a walk and four strikeouts.

Freshman lefthander Shane Handrahan (Raynham, Mass.) got the start for Bridgewater State and hurled six solid innings giving up two runs on six hits with two walks and a career-high nine strikeouts. Junior righthander Tyler Dasilva-Medeiros (Taunton, Mass.) suffered the loss out of the bullpen for the Bears. Dasilva-Medeiros worked two-plus innings of relief allowing two runs on four hits with a pair of walks and a strikeout.

Sylvia went 3-for-5 and drove in three runs to pace the Bucs' ten-hit attack. Pietrafesa (2-4, 2B, RBI) also recorded multiple hits for Maritime.

Wladkowski homered and doubled in five at bats to highlight the BSU offense, while junior first baseman Dan Saraceno (Mansfield, Mass.) went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles. Sophomore left fielder Joe Frechette (Plymouth, Mass.) singled and walked in four plate appearances.

Both teams host Wentworth Institute of Technology in upcoming action. The Buccaneers entertain the Leopards on Tuesday afternoon at four o'clock, while the Bears welcome Wentworth to Alumni Park on Wednesday afternoon for a 3:30 game.