Baseball Posts 13-7 MASCAC Win Over Worcester State

By Jim Fenton

WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University baseball team built a nine-run lead early on the way to a 13-7 victory over Worcester State University Friday afternoon.

It marked the fifth time in the last seven games that the Bears have reached double figures in runs and the 11th time this season.

BSU (14-12) improved to 7-5 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference while the Lancers (5-19) dropped to 4-7 in the conference and are on a seven-game losing streak.

The Bears were in front, 9-0, after four innings and held a 10-1 advantage before Worcester State scored five times in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Scott Emerson (Peabody, Mass.), Ryan Flaherty (Duxbury, Mass.) and Steven Simon (Hanover, Mass.) led BSU's 17-hit attack, getting three apiece.

Emerson, who had two RBI, was a double shy of the cycle, getting a homer in the fourth, a single in the seventh and a triple in the ninth.

Jay Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.) and DJ Prampin (Worcester, Mass.) added two hits each for the Bears.

Worcester State received two hits each from Frankie Hernandez (Framingham, Mass.), Joe Auger (Lowell, Mass.) and Kevin Doyle (Bridgewater, Mass.).

Winning pitcher Matthew Seavey (North Attleboro, Mass.) improved to 6-0 in eight starts. He allowed six runs (only two earned) and six hits with four strikeouts in 5 2-3 innings.

BSU opened a 3-0 lead in the second inning as Mathew Pigeon (Canton, Mass.) walked, Prampin was hit by a pitch and Riley Thornell (Wareham, Mass.) singled to right for the first run.

Joe Frechette (Plymouth, Mass.) scored Prampin with an infield hit, and after stealing second, came home on a groundout by Emerson.

Simon doubled to left-center in the third and scored on an infield hit by Wladkowski to a 4-0 lead.

The Bears erupted for five runs in the fourth with Emerson starting the inning with a homer, this third of the season and second in three games.

Kevin Lindsay (East Bridgewater, Mass.) was hit by a pitch, went to second on a Flaherty single to left, to third when Simon was hit by a pitch and scored on a Wladkowski single to right.

Pigeon doubled home a run and Prampin singled in another for the 9-0 edge.

Worcester State got on the scoreboard in the fourth when Hernandez homered to right.

The Bears made it 10-1 in the sixth inning as Pigeon was hit by a pitch and went to third on a Prampin double down the right-field line before scoring on a Thornell groundup.

The Lancers chased Seavey in the sixth inning, scoring five runs on four hits.

Auger doubled to left-center, scoring Hernandez, who walked, and Nathan Thurber (Framingham, Mass.), who reached on an error.

Gavin Wells (North Attleboro, Mass.) reached on an error for another run and Anthony Iamarone (Providence, R.I.) doubled to left for the final two runs of the inning.

BSU upped the lead to 11-5 in the seventh inning when Emerson singled and stole second, setting up an RBI single by Flaherty.

Worcester State loaded the bases after two were out in the seventh but failed to score.

The Lancers got within 11-6 in the eighth when Auger singled home Thurber, who had doubled with two outs.

The Bears finished the scoring with two runs in the ninth.

Emerson led with a triple down the left-field line and scored on a double to center by Flaherty. Simon's single up the middle brought in Flaherty.

Seavey (17-6 in his BSU career) allowed just a run and two hits through five innings before the Lancers scored five times.

Relievers CJ Hess (Providence, R.I.), Michael Cobb (Waltham, Mass.) and Nick Reiser (Nahant, Mass.) allowed a run and four hits in a combined 3 1-3 innings. Reiser tossed a perfect 1-2-3 ninth inning.

BSU will host Worcester State in a doubleheader at Alumni Park Sunday at noon. The games were originally scheduled to play Saturday, but the twinbill was moved due to the forecast of rain.

Notes: With his two runs batted in, Wladkowski moved past Kyle Kupiec (1990-93) into second place on the Bears' all-time RBI list. Wladkowski has driven in 127 runs for his career.