Baseball Falls to #13 Catholic, 8-2, to Wrap Up Myrtle Beach Trip

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Bridgewater State University baseball team wrapped up its Spring Break trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with an 8-2 setback to nationally ranked Catholic University on Saturday morning at The Ripken Experience.

The Cardinals, who were ranked 13th in the most recent D3baseball.com/NCBWA Poll, improve to 11-2 on the season, while the Bears fall to 5-2.

Senior righthander Tucker Alch (Houston, Texas) went eight solid innings to pick up the win on the mound for Catholic. Alch (3-0) allowed just two runs on two hits with a pair of walks and seven strikeouts.

A two-run single by sophomore designated hitter Mitchel Johnson (Olney, Md.) in the bottom of the first inning staked Catholic to the early 2-0 lead. One of the two runs was unearned as the leadoff hitter reached on a throwing error.

The Cardinals tacked on four more runs in the third to extend the lead to 6-0. Johnson doubled home a run while junior third baseman Jesse Lacefield (Potomac, Md.) and sophomore catcher Matthew Fisher (Irvington, N.Y.) added RBI singles in the frame.

Alch retired the first ten batters he faced before issuing a walk to junior right fielder Jay Wladkowksi (Norwood, Mass.) with one out in the top of third inning. Freshman designated hitter Dan Jasmin (East Meadow, N.Y.) followed with a base hit up the middle to put runners at the corners, and senior third baseman Joey Molis (Cumberland, RI.)  got the Bears on the board with a sacrifice fly.

A two-run homer by sophomore left fielder Joe Marini (Old Bridge, N.J.) made it an 8-1 game in the bottom of the fourth.

Wladkowski tripled to left field to lead off the top of the seventh inning and trotted home on a Jasmin sacrifice fly to cut the BSU deficit to 8-2.

Sophomore righthander Cody Bosak (Woodbridge, Va.) struck out the side in the ninth inning to close out the game for the Cardinals. Bosak worked around a one-out walk to Wladkowski.

Marini went 3-for-5 with the two-run blast to pace the Catholic 13-hit attack. Johnson (2-3, BB, R, 3RBI), sophomore shortstop Dante Pozzi (Medford, N.J.) and sophomore right fielder Lucas Malave (Toms River, N.J.) also recorded multiple hits for the Cardinals. Pozzi doubled and singled in five at bats and scored two runs, while Malave went 2-for-4 with a run.

Wladkowski (1-2, 3B, 2 BB) reached safely three times and scored each of the Bears' two runs.

Graduate righthander Matt Josselyn (Hanson, Mass.) was tagged with the loss for the Bridgewater State. Josselyn (0-1) gave up six runs (five earned) on eight hits over three innings with a walk and three strikeouts.

BSU graduate righty David Kerns (East Cambridge, Mass.) tossed four innings of relief allowing two runs on four hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts. Senior righthander Matthew Seavey (North Attleboro, Mass.) worked a scoreless eighth inning striking out two and giving up one hit.

The Bears are off until next Saturday when they host a doubleheader with UMass Dartmouth at Alumni Park. Game one is slated to get underway at noon. The Cardinals travel to York College on Tuesday afternoon to take on the Spartans at 3:30.